


The Family that Fights Together Stays Together

by LadyCressa



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Battle, Chi-Chi's mother, F/M, Family, Fights, Fluff, Goku is wished back, Love, Romance, Strange new fighting techniques, alive, revival, revive, saiyan Chi-Chi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:37:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 57,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7482609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyCressa/pseuds/LadyCressa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternately titled Family Feud.  The Son Family is rocked by a revelation from Chichi’s past, requiring Goku to return to life and home to his growing family to help them defeat an old enemy of Chichi’s ancestry.  Big time A/U with a healthy dose of canon divergence.  Mostly sticking to the canon pairings here except for one relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Goku's Unexpected Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody! Here it is! Finally! Chapter 1 of my longest story probably ever! I had tons of fun writing this. I'll be posting a new chapter about every week or so. Stay tuned! This idea was actually my first ever fanfic idea. The concept has been bouncing around in my head for months and months, since at least September maybe before that. I have a whole other version on my computer written in a totally different voice. My sister and beta reader liked the concept, but my writing was crumby lol. I scrapped the project for a while, filing it away on my computer and worked on other stuff for a while before revisiting it. I started from scratch, saving the main themes, but completely redoing it from the ground up. Finally, here's Chapter 1 of the finished product!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> **I do not own Dragon Ball or any characters. Just borrowing them for some non-profit fun.**
> 
> Fun fact: Cressa's name is inspired by a plant called watercress that is considered either a herb or a vegetable depending on the region and how it's prepared and eaten. Not to be confused with the herb cress that is not a vegetable. ;D

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku meets a close relative of Chichi’s, Cressa, during a sparring session with Pikkon in Other World. She springs some shocking – and then worrying – news on him about his wife.

**Chapter 1:**

**Goku's Unexpected Encounter**

It was one month Earth time since my son, Gohan, killed Cell and I decided not to allow myself to be wished back by the Namekian Dragon Balls after sacrificing myself in the fight. I figured out the Earth was being attacked so often because of me.

I first made this realization during those nine wonderful days of quiet time with my family before the Cell Games after Gohan and I completed our training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. The realization troubled me so much. I put on a happy face and kept the mood lighthearted for everyone around me, but inside I was struggling with what to do about it.

I kept the world safe as much for the innocent people that live there as for my family. My wife. My son. Our unborn child. Keeping the world safe for my family and friends has always been one of my top priorities. I've always loved to fight and I'll admit to getting a massive thrill out of fighting enemies even if they want to destroy the world – I was a Saiyan, after all – but my priority was always to protect the innocent people of the planet and my family and friends.

I lay on my back in the grass a distance from the sparring fields as I stared out at the soft purple sky of the Grand Kai's planet, watching the clouds drift overhead. It was a big privilege to go to the planet after death. The planet was where warriors who sacrificed themselves to save others went to spend the afterlife and train almost endlessly. It was almost a dream come true!

I didn't have any reason to think I wouldn't be chosen to stay there once I found out about it, but I very much hoped I would. I had to do something to occupy my time and, up there, training was really the only option I had. I missed my family too much to sit around. I knew I'd go crazy if I didn't do something with myself.

A soft breeze tickled my face, and the fresh smell of grass reached my nose. If I closed my eyes, I imagined myself back on Earth, resting in my yard under my favorite tree, a big, beautiful oak in my front yard. I could almost hear her, my Chichi, calling for me to come in and eat…

_No, Goku. Don't go down that road. Don't do that to yourself._

I reached into my pocket as I rested on the grass and my fingers brushed against a wrinkled piece of paper. I carefully pulled it out and looked at it – into the smiling faces of Chichi and myself with Gohan in front of us while Ox King towered behind us with a hand on both of our shoulders. The small picture was something I carried into the Cell Games with me and was the last picture taken of us just a day or two before the battle. It was an image I was allowed to keep when I died because King Yemma quietly bent that rule for me and I was eternally grateful for that – literally.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen to me at Cell's hand. I made those nine wonderful days I had with my family as special for them and for me as possible. Not many people really have the chance to say their final goodbyes to their families. I am truly lucky to have had that chance. I said my goodbyes without really ever saying the word.

I think they knew – or at least she did. There were many times Chichi would cry herself to sleep late at night in my arms. Sometimes, she would wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare and beg me to not to leave to fight, asking me to promise her I would come back and bring Gohan home. I only kept part of that promise.

I shed a tear or two late in the night before the Cell Games. No one ever saw me, but I did. A tear for the pain I would cause them and another because I was saying farewell without telling them. Those nine days were hard. That time with my family was so very precious, but hard. I knew I would leave them. I knew I would leave her, my beautiful wife, and leave my amazing son, but not without leaving them both one final gift.

In those nine days, I sometimes caught Gohan giving me a sidelong look. He asked me if we were strong enough to beat Cell. Gohan was stronger than me and didn't even know it! He didn't know the plan I had. He didn't know the plan I came up with while in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Nobody but did but me.

I discovered Gohan's massive power in the Chamber. _He_ was training _me_ in the Chamber as much as _I_ was training _him_ by our last month or two in there _._ He had depths to his power I couldn't begin to fathom. He fought with his heart, with his emotions. That was where his latent power came from. It was his drive to protect that brought it out. When he released it, it was a sight to behold.

It was then that I came up with the plan to have Gohan fight Cell. It was going to be him. Not me. I couldn't get strong enough fast enough. I truly did reach my maximum for a time in the Chamber. I couldn't go any further. Gohan did.

I knew I was going to leave them and I was right. When I realized Cell was about to self-destruct and take the planet with him, I used Instant Transmission to take him to the planet of my former master, King Kai, a small planet off of Snake Way up there in Other World. That was where I gave my life and so did King Kai, and his friends, Bubbles and Gregory. In my final seconds, my thoughts went to my family and the happy memories we made together as I closed my eyes and let death take me.

The fight wasn't over yet. Cell came back with a vengeance. King Kai helped me telepathically bridge the gap between Other World and Earth to encourage Gohan in those final minutes of the battle. In those final minutes, my son's incredible hidden power was funneled into the biggest Kamehameha Wave I've ever seen and Cell was obliterated. I was so proud of Gohan – my son did it! I knew he would defeat Cell, and he did. Protecting the planet would be his responsibility from then on, but there wouldn't be any need.

With Cell's defeat, the Earth had a chance at real peace for the first time in years with no huge threats hanging over it and its people. Peace that only seemed possible if I was out of the picture.

I knew they'd try to wish me back after the battle and they did, but I had a say in the matter. I nicely refused to return, explaining my realization to them. I knew I had to stay dead. It was for the best – even if it was so very tempting to go back.

I would be there to greet them the moment I sensed them crossover as their times came – especially my family. I told them they'd see me again. It was tough for them but it was hard being away from them for me, too. So I trained, but still needed to take breaks sometimes. Apparently, even dead people run out of juice.

After I was through with my break and through reflecting on the Cell Games as I sometimes did in quiet moments, I put the picture safely back in my pocket, stood up and walked back to my training partner: a tall green fellow by the name of Pikkon.

My heart began pounding at the prospect of continuing our sparring match, but nervousness was not the cause. My heart pounded with excitement. My body buzzed in anticipation of the coming adrenaline rush, in anticipation of the coming thrill.

I smirked as I walked up. "Hey, Pikkon. Ready to get back at it?"

He smirked back. "Took you long enough. Prepare to have your butt handed to you."

We settled into our fighting stances and flew towards each other.

We exchanged a flurry of high-speed, high-powered blows and Pikkon matched me blow for blow, blast for blast.

I powered up to Super Saiyan and still he kept up with me.

We began to drift into the sky, lost in the intensity of our match.

He launched a powerful kick aimed for my stomach and I Instant Transmissioned behind him to dodge it and punched him to the ground.

He recovered quickly and I could see his irritation in his eyes.

He moved so quickly he seemed to teleport above me, but my eyes followed his movement.

I whipped around and brought my arm up just in time to block a fierce kick aimed for my head and immediately countered with my own kick aimed for his stomach.

We exchanged a blitz of many more lightning fast, strong blows and blasts until a familiar voice shouted my name.

"Goku! A word please!"

I blocked another punch. "Kinda busy, King Kai!"

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and my eyes snagged just a half second too long.

A fist collided with my cheek and sent me flying – snapping me back to my senses.

I could have sworn just out of the corner of my eye, I saw _her_ standing next to my former master _._

_You've lost it, Goku. You're seeing things and that nearly cost you the match._

I recovered quickly and we exchanged more blows. Blows so strong and fast, I had to keep my head in the game.

Trying my favorite tactic, I Instant Transmissioned behind Pikkon to catch him by surprise once again.

The technique made me face King Kai's direction fully. I glanced at him and my eyes caught once more.

There she was, right next to him. She stood there with her beautiful long dark hair down, gently flowing in the breeze, staring at me with a halo over her head.

My heart shuddered to a stop and I felt my jaw go slack as half-formed questions raced through my mind. My distraction once again earned me a nasty bruise – that one on my stomach – as Pikkon's foot connected with my gut, knocking the air out of me.

Once I realized I _wasn't_ seeing things, I dropped out of the air and landed hard. I landed so hard, I made a small crater and almost made her and King Kai fall over from the small shockwave.

I was vaguely aware of Pikkon yelling at me to resume our match, but I didn't care.

My next urge was to rush over to her and pull her into my arms – and ask her what the heck she was doing there _so soon_ – but before I could take another step, my eyes took in her appearance in more detail.

Her hair was long and straight, but very dark brown. Not black. Her height and slender build were the same. Her ivory skin tone was identical.

Her eyes. Her eyes were exactly the same. Her eyes even carried the same fire in their depths. Fire that – just for a moment – brought me home.

That woman wasn't my wife. With that realization, my heart slowly resumed beating, bringing with it an unfamiliar ache that intensified with each sluggish beat.

I thought about _her_ sometimes and I missed her, but where did that ache come from? That longing? At that moment, I missed her so much it was almost unbearable. I was doing just fine until I saw that woman. I was rooted to the spot, unable to move, staring at the woman who so closely resembled _her_ – my Chichi.

Once I thought it, her name reverberated in my mind and I almost felt like I was crumbling.

"Hi. Are you Goku?"

She even _sounded_ just like _her_.

I didn't trust my voice so I only nodded slowly, unable to tear my gaze away.

Part of me wanted to run, but part of me was desperate to hear her story. As I thought about it, no, I didn't want to run. What I really wanted to do was _go home_ worse than ever before, but that couldn't happen.

_They must be related!_ That much resemblance was no coincidence. My feet stayed firmly planted on the ground.

A light blue hand waved inches from my face. "Goku! Stop staring and snap out of it! You're so rude! There's something we need to discuss!"

I finally shifted my gaze to King Kai and inclined my head once.

"Not here, Goku. Follow me, please. Both of you," King Kai said as he turned around.

King Kai, the woman who looked so much like my wife, and myself walked a distance away from the sparring area.

"Goku, this is Cressa. She has something really important to tell you. I suggest you pay attention. It involves your family."

His last sentence snapped me out of my wordless, blank shock and I immediately found my voice as I turned to her. "My family?"

"Yes, Goku, this is about your family but we can't talk here." She turned to King Kai. "Is there anywhere we can go where we will not be overheard?"

"Yes, there is." He raised a finger and pointed to his left. "Head in that direction and you will find a tall mountain, the largest on the planet. Fly to the peak. Few people visit it. You will be safe to talk there."

"Thanks, King Kai." She turned back to me, jerked her head in the direction King Kai pointed, and then took off into the sky.

I merely gaped at her.

She flew like it was the most normal thing in the world to her! I couldn't help but wonder what else she was capable of, but I couldn't really sense anything special from her. Then again, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien were human and they her flying really wasn't anything special.

"Well? Don't just stand there! Come on!"

That was even the exact tone Chichi used to get me to do something.

I launched myself into the sky and flew after her.

The air rushed over my face and through my hair and rustled my _gi_ , helping to clear my head. My mind further processed her appearance. Chichi and that woman just had to be related somehow and I was going to find out how much.

The largest mountain on the Grand Kai's planet came into view. We flew up to the peak and landed.

She had her back to me as she looked out over the landscape. I was too focused on her to pay much attention to the scenery.

Finally, she turned to me and gave me a small, sympathetic smile. "I saw pain flash across your face when you first saw me. I know I bear quite a resemblance to someone you're very close to on Earth."

Heat rushed to my cheeks. I dropped my gaze to the ground and lightly pushed a rock around with my foot.

"I'm Chichi's mother, Goku."

My head snapped back up to stare her in the eye, mine wide. My voice cracked slightly. "Her _mother_?"

She nodded, her face gentle.

I knew they were related, but that _close_? I couldn't believe I was actually talking to Chichi's mother!

"I can see you miss her a great deal."

I nodded slightly as my gaze lowered back to the ground and the ache that wormed its way into my heart worsened slightly. I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder and looked up to see her staring into my eyes with a sympathetic smile still on her lips.

She lowered her hand and turned back to look out over the landscape.

She sighed and turned back to me, a troubled expression on her face. An expression that looked so much like the expression Chichi wore while we were alone during our final nights together before the Cell Games.

I knew what Cressa was about to say wouldn't be good.

"Goku, Chichi is…" She paused and her brow furrowed deeper. "She's in danger."

My eyes popped out of my head. "What? No! She couldn't possibly be in danger! Our son Gohan killed Cell! My other enemies are dead, too!"

She smiled slightly, despite the seriousness of what she was telling me. "I know I'm a grandmother. I peeked once. So… his name is Gohan."

I nodded as I felt the corners of my lips tug up at the mention of my son. "Yes. He's eleven years old, very smart, and way stronger than me!"

Her eyes lit up as she stared straight at me, giving me the smile that – when Chichi wore it – melted my heart. I couldn't help but give Cressa a big grin right back. Chichi's smile had the exact same effect on me. So that was where she got it.

Her smile faded and that troubled look took over her features once more. "Goku, it's not one of your enemies. It's one of mine."

"One of _your_ enemies?"

Who wanted her dead? Why? She was human. I double-checked with my senses and yes, definitely human.

"Yes. One of mine and I think I know why. Before I can explain, Goku, there's something I need to show you first."

I nodded. I felt my eyebrows pull down as my senses alerted me to a power I hadn't noticed before.

_Where did that power come from?_

I looked around the area, but didn't see anyone else. I reached out further with my senses and realized it felt oddly familiar, but its sheer size made it almost unrecognizable.

My jaw dropped.

She cocked an eyebrow at me.

How in the world could a human have a power like that? It very much dwarfed Krillen's, Yamcha's, and Tien's. Heck, that power was far larger than even Piccolo's.

She smirked faintly. "You haven't seen anything yet."

She took a moment to quickly and smoothly braid her hair and tied it off at the end. Her expression shifted to one of concentration and her power skyrocketed. Her eyes turned brilliant teal, her hair flashed gold and her braid went straight up, as a familiar yellow aura exploded outward.

My jaw hit the ground and my eyes bulged. For once, I thought _I_ might pull a Chichi and faint.

"Yes, Goku. I am a Saiyan."

She relaxed and her hair reverted to its original dark brown and her braid dropped limply behind her.

I ran a hand through my hair as my mind spun. "If… you're… that would make… "

She nodded slowly. "Chichi is a Saiyan, too – well half. My husband – the Ox King – is human and I'm full blood Saiyan. It's because of her Saiyan blood that she's in danger."

My mind stopped spinning and sharpened immediately. I looked at her and noticed her eyebrows were pulled down and her eyes were tight, her gaze on her feet. It was an expression Chichi wore sometimes, right before I had to leave to fight. Cressa was worried, but it really couldn't be that bad… could it?

I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that whatever she had to tell me was really, really bad, but Gohan was with Chichi and the rest of the gang would help, too.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Cressa?"

She lifted her gaze back to my face and I dropped my hand. "I wouldn't worry too much about her. Gohan is stronger than me. I'm sure he can keep her safe."

She shook her head. "Goku, this enemy fights with techniques the likes of which you and your son have likely never seen before. She fights dirty. There's no honor in anything she does. She's utterly ruthless."

I shrugged. "A bad guy I defeated years ago named Frieza was ruthless and had some pretty weird techniques. I still beat him."

Her eyes narrowed and she blew out a huff of air, looking straight in my eyes. "No! You don't understand! I have to show you. Maybe then, you'll see."

Her frown remained, but it was no longer one of anger, but concentration. I watched her warily and instinctively slid into a fighting stance – which ended up being useless.

I felt invisible coils wrap tightly around my neck and limbs, and a spike of pain erupted behind my eyes. I wanted to scream, but no sound would escape – I couldn't even power up!

I was just hanging on by a thread to my sanity, panic – and unconsciousness – threatening to overtake me. The pain behind my eyes intensified, and I felt an unnerving feeling of… another mind in _my_ head?

My vision was beginning to fade, but not from lack of air. I felt… something… reaching through me, reaching for my arms and legs and my senses. One by one, my senses left. I couldn't hear or see anything.

The pressure around my neck and limbs began to subside, but I still couldn't see or hear anything at all or move. Then, I _felt_ my legs moving, walking a few steps, but I could see nothing but blackness.

I was being controlled, and I was painfully aware of it.

I fought to keep from panicking and tried to stay calm and figure a way out. Before I could come up with anything, a voice reached me in the darkness.

_Now do you understand?_

The moment that thought that wasn't my own concluded, all of my senses and control of my body returned to me, and sensation slammed into me like a train, utterly disorienting me and I had to fight to remain standing. A sick feeling bubbled up in my stomach and was so intense for a second or two I really thought I was going to lose my lunch, but thankfully the feeling subsided.

I felt small hands grip my arm, steadying me, and I blinked a few times to clear my vision and shook my head to try to shake my disorientation. "What… just happened?"

Cressa led me a few steps to a large rock and helped me sit, withdrew her hands and crossed her arms. "Sorry I had to do that to you, but I had to make you see just what Chichi and Gohan are up against. Don't worry; the weird feelings will go away soon. I didn't do any damage."

All said and done, that had only taken a few seconds! I tried to remember the sensations, the bizarre feeling of… someone else in my head.

"Was that really what you meant? Is someone else with this sort of power threatening Chichi and Gohan?"

She nodded slowly, her face grave.

"But why? What would this person want with you? What would this person want with my family?"

"This person – this _Saiyan –_ wants revenge. I killed her mate and wounded _her_ badly because they tried to kill my family and did kill most of our tribe in the battle."

"What did they want with you?"

"They sought revenge for something they thought my tribe and I caused. They blamed my tribe and a few others on the destruction of our race."

"But… why? What did you have to do with that? Frieza killed the saiyans when he destroyed the planet. What does the extinction of the saiyans have to do with you? For that matter, how did you come to be on Earth?"

"To answer your questions, I need to start from the beginning. I need to tell you about the tribe I came from."

I nodded again, hanging off her every word.

"You may find this surprising, but not all saiyans were bloodthirsty and battle hungry. Some were quite peaceful and preferred to stay out of the way of the more typical saiyans. In fact, these peaceful saiyans outright disliked fighting for the sake of fighting and very much hated the barbaric practice of the planet trade. Not to say they didn't train or that they wouldn't hesitate to protect their families, but they were happy to live and let live. The tribe I was born into fell into this rare peace loving category."

I cocked an eyebrow. "'Peaceful' and 'saiyan'… I don't think I've ever heard those two words in a sentence together before – at least not like that."

She let out a little laugh. "Generally, those two words are used to describe how saiyans destroyed a peaceful civilization. Not commonly used in this context, it's true."

"So, these Saiyans are on Earth now? Why did they leave their home planet?"

I couldn't believe it! Other saiyans on Earth!

Her face serious, she answered with, "It was because of certain inborn abilities we possessed that were somewhat rare among our kind."

I tilted my head. "Abilities? Like what?"

"Some had the power to seize control of one's mind–"

" _That's_ what you did to me! I couldn't move or see or hear anything, but I felt myself moving. It was so _weird_!"

I shuddered at the unpleasant memory.

"Correct. Users of this technique can utterly subdue their foes with only a thought. Others were masters of _Ki_ Blocking. With one touch, they could render their enemies powerless and also were able to hide their _kis_ so completely, no one would ever be able to sense them even powered up, even if an enemy stood two feet away. The rarest skill of all was healing. Those few born healers can use the energy around them to heal themselves and others of even mortal injuries."

"Wow! I had no idea saiyans could have those kinds of powers!"

"These saiyans were capable of amazing feats, but, unfortunately, the rest of the saiyans didn't take these abilities seriously since many of us weren't as strong as the typical saiyan as far as power levels were concerned and they tended to forget about us. My tribe kept distantly separated from the rest of the saiyans, but that wasn't enough to keep them safe.

"Two kids were out practicing–"

"Kids? I thought Saiyans sent their babies away to conquer weak planets."

"That may be true for the general population of warriors, but my tribe preferred to keep their children to prevent them from being exposed to the typical saiyan programming.

"Two youngsters were out practicing their rare skills and they were spotted by one of King Vegeta's soldiers and he went straight to the King to tell him what he had seen. By this time, Frieza and his forces had long since seized control of the saiyan race and King Vegeta planned a resistance and needed all the help he could get.

"He attempted to recruit my tribe and the others scattered about the wilderness and one or two tribes agreed, but the rest refused. King Vegeta threatened my tribe and the others with an ultimatum: Either join his ranks or be executed for treason."

My eyes widened. "Wow! He would kill them just for not helping?"

"Yes. He was a very desperate man. The wisest of the tribes saw the dilemma for what it was, which was something of a catch-22. The tribe could – to a certain extent – teach their skills to warriors capable of learning them, aiding in the annihilation of the saiyans' most powerful foe who also happened to be a danger to the entire galaxy, thereby leaving the saiyans free to wreak their own havoc across solar systems, or refuse and face execution. Facing certain death, the tribe refused. Within days, the King put together a team of his strongest warriors to execute us all and my tribe got wind of this."

"He was serious! He was really going to kill you guys! How did you get away?"

She nodded. "We escaped just in the nick of time thanks to one of his soldiers on a decrepit old slave ship and drifted through space for two years. In that time, our elders discussed our options. Our supplies from our most recent trade stop were running very low and it was announced we were searching for a new home planet and it wasn't long before we found one."

"I'm guessing… that was when you found Earth."

She sighed and looked out over the scenery of the Grand Kai's planet, a distant expression and a faint smile on her face. "Yes. Earth was perfect for us. It was and is bountiful and vibrant with life. Nothing like the dead world we called home. We could even blend in with the natives if we hid our power. It was better than anything we could have hoped for. I was eighteen when we finally landed and I – along with the others of my tribe – fell in love with the place right away."

Her features grew serious, and her eyes and tone of voice darkened as she continued. "About four years after our tribe left, we sensed a terrible event. Even as far away as Earth, we could sense our planet's destruction and the immense loss of life. We knew it was Frieza."

Her eyebrows pulled down more, but the darkness in her eyes faded. "How old are you, Goku?"

"I was just shy of twenty-eight when I died."

Her eyes went wide and she suddenly looked just a little bit pale. "That means you missed the destruction of Planet Vegeta by just _days_!"

I feel my eyebrows climb into my hairline. "Wow! I guess I'm lucky, eh?"

Her eyebrows still raised, she giggled a little bit. "That you are."

She crossed her arms and frowned at the ground for a long moment, and bit her lip.

Her expression made it clear there was more to this story and I had to find out. I reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "Cressa? There's more to this, isn't there?"

She jumped, I dropped my hand, and her eyes snapped up to mine. She blew out a breath. "Yes, there is more to this. We didn't realize it at the time, but while we were drifting through space and making stops on a few planets for supplies, we were being followed. We found out later the execution team was given orders to track us down and kill us all. Thankfully, we had a huge head start on them and kept our stops random or we would have been found in space as sitting ducks. While they were tracking us, Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta.

"By the time the squad caught up to us, I was married to the Ox King and Chichi was six years old. The squad carried out their orders–" she shut her eyes tight and her hands balled up into fists as I felt her power build "–they killed so many of us, Goku. My tribe's innocent children, our sick and injured, none were spared! They were ruthless! Not even those that left the village were safe. There were precious few survivors."

She took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "The execution squad's number was small, but they were so powerful. Two among them could even use mind manipulation! Those two turned their backs on our tribe and allied with King Vegeta. They betrayed us all. Even our strongest were no match. Our strongest were no match because those two fighters _were_ our strongest!"

She fell silent, her body trembling. I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze and she opened her eyes and found mine.

A few tears lingered on her cheeks and she hurriedly wiped them away. "I lost my life when they caught my family and I unawares in our palace in the middle of the night. Two of our own turned on us, Goku! We all nearly died. I self-destructed because I was mortally injured anyway and took _her_ mate with me and severely wounded _her_. My husband and Chichi were able to get away and _she_ fled to space. Now, after all these years, _she's_ back for revenge–" she snarled the next words but trailed off "–that traitorous wretch, that vile, awful…"

My jaw went slack. Chichi. Gohan. They really were in danger and Chichi was pregnant!

A surge of protectiveness shot through me immediately followed by frustration and I snarled, "I'm dead! I can't do anything for them from up here! I have to go back. How much time do they have?"

She didn't answer and instead lifted a few feet off the ground. "C'mon. We need to talk to King Kai."

I could sense King Kai at the base of the mountain, so the flight wouldn't take long but I was too impatient.

I hovered off the ground and grabbed her shoulder. "I know a faster way."

I touched my index and middle finger together to my forehead and we vanished and reappeared an instant later next to King Kai who screamed at me. "GOKU!"

When we touched down, Cressa staggered a little bit and shot me a glare so familiar it was as if I was back home again. "Some _warning_ next time, if you don't mind."

I laughed sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

They grumbled under their breath for a couple minutes but got back down to business before too long.

Cressa crossed her arms and looked at King Kai. "Goku asked me how long Chichi and Gohan have before they encounter the traitor and where she is right now. Can you find out?"

King Kai's brow furrowed. "Let me see." He closed his eyes and was silent for a moment as his antennae began to twitch and a spark jumped from one to the other. "Got her. She's about two months away from Earth give or take and moving fast and she's bringing friends."

I crossed my arms and first said to myself, "Two months," then I turned to Cressa. "Are you positive Chichi knows so she wont be caught off guard?"

"Yes. Chichi knows. I peeked at her with Fortuneteller Baba's crystal ball soon after I sensed _her_ hurtling toward Earth. I first sensed the traitor about a month ago, and immediately went about trying to track you down, which wasn't easy because Other World is a _huge_ place." She fell silent for a moment before murmuring, "Finally… after two whole decades…"

My eyes widened. "Twenty years! That's an awfully long time to hold a grudge."

King Kai snorted. "That amount of time is inconsequential to a saiyan, Goku. Saiyans are – on the whole – rather long-lived, you know."

Cressa grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the air. "Two months. Thank you, King Kai. Come, Goku. We have a lot of work to do."

King Kai raised his voice as we flew off. "Goku! I'll monitor things on Earth and find you if anything changes. I'll also get in touch with the Namekians so they can begin to gather their dragon balls and bring you back as soon as they've found all seven. You just focus on your training!"

I shouted over my shoulder, "Thanks, King Kai!"


	2. How to Train Without Moving a Muscle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cressa introduces Goku to a weird new technique where they sit around and stare at each other all day. That’s very boring. (Points if you catch the movie quote!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is Wednesday and as promised, here’s Chapter 2! Enjoy!

**Chapter 2:**

**How to Train Without Moving a Muscle**

Cressa led me to an empty field a ways away from the main training area and slid into a fighting stance. The second I followed suit, she launched herself at me and we exchanged a flurry of blows, then she did something that surprised me.

She struck up a conversation with me telepathically. I had used it some, but I wasn't the best at it. As we sparred, she explained to me those mind manipulation techniques revolved around telepathy and that I had to master that before going on to anything else. Mastering telepathy was harder than I thought. She landed a lot of good hits on me, since focusing on having a conversation and sparring weren't something I had really done before. I got it quickly enough – after only one session, in fact.

Then it was onto mind manipulation. She explained she wanted to teach me how to guard against it first in case Purunga called me before our training was over, figuring I'd be more help to Chichi in battle if I at least mastered defense first and just figured out attacks on the fly.

I sat on the grass in a small, shallow valley between two hills, Cressa in the same position in front of me, miles away from any of the other warriors. It was perfectly silent – not even echoes from the main training area reached us. The only sound was the light breeze whispering over our ears as it pushed small, puffy clouds slowly through the sky overhead.

That next part of my training was like nothing I had ever endured before. She was training my mind. My _mind._ She was teaching me how to fight with my mind and how to defeat enemies without even landing a blow. I had never experienced anything like that before. It was unreal, but really cool – and painful at times. My Saiyan instincts urged me to master that like any other fighting technique.

The breeze helped keep us both cool as sweat dribbled down our faces. We hadn't moved in hours, yet we both looked like we had just finished one intense workout. It was amazing to me how not moving an inch could be so _tiring_. Using my mind like that – and keeping it up for hours on end – was a lot of work, but my Saiyan blood loved the challenge.

I winced in pain as my mind was bombarded mercilessly as she commanded I concentrate and throw her out of my head for what felt like the fiftieth time in the hours we spent sitting in the grass.

My headache was rapidly getting worse and concentration became harder and harder and it was frustrating but I managed. I had to. With King Kai's help, we called on the Namekians to be ready to summon Purunga as soon as they gathered the Dragon Balls. I was going to be brought back after all, and I had to be ready because that could happen at a moment's notice. I had to master this technique quickly.

I drove her out with enough force – driven by my own will power to not give up – that she hissed in pain. I felt her slam up her own walls in defense and I would usually back down at that point because I was still only learning defense. Instead, I decided to try my first attack.

I shoved against her wall and she snarled in frustration when I found a weak point and I concentrated hard on exploiting it. I was so focused on that weak point that I left myself open, but didn't realize my mistake until it was too late.

She shoved into my head with no holds barred, quickly seizing control of me like she had on the mountain peak, and then withdrew almost immediately – leaving me dizzy – but not before two words that weren't my own entered my head: _Nice try._

After I got my bearings, I opened my eyes and saw her standing over me, a hand extended out and I let her help me up.

She started walking away and I followed. "You're making good progress. Let's take a short break. Now that we have some time, I'd love to hear more about how my daughter is doing. Tell me how you two met. I want to hear all about Gohan, too!"

As we walked, I started from the very beginning and told her everything, from how Chichi and I met as kids to our last week – or at least what I thought was our last week – together before the Cell Games.

I told her all about Gohan and how proud I was of him. How I had no idea what being a dad really meant when he was first born, but that I learned fast and loved every minute of being with him. I told her about how strong he was and all about our training together, how much Gohan loved school, and how smart he was. I ended with the battle against Cell and the very last time I saw him.

She laughed in some places of my story and got teary eyed in others and asked lots of questions. She wanted to hear every detail.

She stopped walking and stared at me with wide eyes. "You mean you _planned_ for Gohan to fight Cell? He was eleven years old! _Eleven_!I know you said he got stronger than you even though he didn't seem to know it, but… he was still so young!"

I stared at the grass at my feet and crossed my arms. "Yeah, but he had to fight. He was the only one who had a chance of beating Cell. It was close, but he did it. I wish it could have been me, but that was just how things played out."

She nodded. "I see. What do you think Chichi thought about this? You said she was willing to let you train him, but I don't think she wanted him to fight."

 _You have no idea, Cressa._ "You're right about that."

"You said the battle was televised so she probably saw it then and got the full story from Gohan when he returned to her. I'll be blunt: She's probably going to be pretty pissed at you for having him fight. It's only been a month."

I've dealt with Chichi's wrath on the subject many times. What terrified me was _pregnant_ Chichi's wrath. Not just pregnant, but _half-Saiyan._

_Oh, crap._

_She might actually hurt me._

Cressa giggled. "Judging by the sweat rolling down your forehead, your wide eyes, and pale face, it looks like there's going to be Hell to pay."

I grunted.

I stayed quiet for a while longer as I tried to figure out what to say to Chichi – or _if_ there was anything I could say to her.

 _I suppose I'll just lay low for a while when I go back and wait for her to cool off. That's worked before,_ was my hopeful thought to myself.

Somehow, I doubted that would work.

"Goku."

My head snapped up at my name and I glanced at Cressa to let her know I was listening before I continued to stare at the ground.

"There's something _huge_ you haven't mentioned yet, but that I found out about when I was in your head."

A small grimace found its way on my face. I knew what she was talking about and it was the only thing that had yet enter into our conversation. I didn't like where that was going. I watched Cressa nervously out of the corner of my eye, but didn't say anything.

"She's pregnant."

The worst part was there was no emotion in her voice at all. When Chichi got like that, I had about three seconds to duck and cover. Cressa's emotions were hard to read – as closely guarded as her mind was – but I didn't have to wait long for her explosion.

I gave her a small nod as I grimaced, still not willing to meet her eyes.

"YOU LEFT HER _PREGNANT_ AND YOU STAYED _DEAD_!?"

My grimace grew as I cringed.

There very much was emotion in her voice that time, her piercing tone somewhere between shock, anger, and terror. The shrillness put my ears in some danger of bleeding.

After a moment she calmed down. "One of my enemies is back to seek revenge against me by going after my daughter and she's _pregnant_!? Oh, my poor sweet Chichi!"

Then, she slugged me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me a little bit. "You _IDIOT_! You need to go back! Right now!"

I cringed smaller as I finally faced her. "But… I _can't_ go back yet. I have to at least master defense… You said so yourself."

Her eyes narrowed so dangerously that if I weren't already dead, I'd fear for my life. When Chichi wore that look, it was usually promptly followed by a wallop from her frying pan. At least Cressa didn't have one of those, but that didn't stop my eyes from darting around nervously.

She huffed out a breath. "You'd be no use to her if you went back right now. In fact, you'd only be a danger to your family in the battle. If that traitor managed to take control of you…"

She shuddered as she trailed off.

I did, too.

She resumed walking, but there was a stomp to her step that was identical to Chichi's. Chichi _definitely_ got her temper from her mother.

I hustled to catch up to her, biting my lip.

After a long period of very uncomfortable silence, the stomp in her step faded and when she spoke, her tone was even. "Well, the good news is – with this technique – she can attack from a safe distance. I taught her a little of it, but I don't know how much she remembers, as she was very young the last time we went over this. You'll have to help each other figure out attacks because I'm afraid we don't have enough time here to cover offense, as well."

"We'll figure something out. Whatever time we have to train when I'm alive again and home, we'll put to good use."

Thinking about training and strength as Cressa and I walked got me wondering. I supposed I should have seen something from Chichi in all the years we've been married. Granted, we've been apart a lot in that time, but I still should have seen something more than normal human strength from Chichi. Why haven't I?

Then again… maybe I have seen more than normal human strength out of her. I didn't know any other human women who could pick up an entire couch like it was nothing or survive the times I accidentally hurt her – like that time I hit her through a wall of our house because I didn't control my strength.

That still didn't explain why I hadn't sensed anything beyond a normal human _ki_ out of Chichi.

"Say, you never did explain why I haven't sensed Chichi's power in all this time."

Cressa winced. "Well, I guess I can explain that to you. After the traitor was driven away, the elders decided all surviving members of the tribe must have a Block placed on their Saiyan powers, which also resulted in blocking their Saiyan _ki_ signatures. The elders thought the safest thing for all involved and for protecting the humans in their new families, was to forget their heritage and all surviving members agreed. Of course, now this block is probably unnecessary since most of our enemies are likely gone now – accept one."

"I'm guessing Chichi has this Block put on her, too. How does it work?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, as does my husband so he would forget where I really came from and about my power. It's very complicated, but the Block was intended to disguise Saiyans as humans by blocking both their knowledge of _ki_ and their power and memory of where we came from, replacing those memories with others, while their Saiyan blood remains. While one Saiyan placed the Block, healers came by and rid us of the scars left over from when our tails got removed. What I want to know is how many others on Earth were affected?"

I rubbed my chin as we walked, trying to come up with a solution. "When I get back to Earth, I can stretch my senses out and try to find any unusually strong and unfamiliar energies. With any luck, maybe they'll help my family, friends, and me. I'll contact King Kai when I know how many and he can tell you if you want."

She stopped walking again and was quiet for a moment – seemingly lost in thought – and then looked up at me. "That… might work. I'll warn you, Goku. After being followed and their numbers decimated, those with a breakthrough will be very secretive. I would be very interested to hear if anyone else had their Blocks lifted, but I don't think it's too likely you'll find them."

We continued in the direction we were going and we walked in silence.

After a while, I looked around. Without me realizing it, she had led me in a wide circle and we ended up back at our secluded training spot between the two grass covered hills.

She smirked at me as she sat down. "Ready to get back to work?"

I sat down cross-legged in the same spot as before. "Yes!"

The second I replied, her mind slammed into mine. I squeezed my eyes shut as I pulled up my defenses and effortlessly threw her out and launched a counterattack of my own. I made a little headway in crumbling her wall, but she was quick to throw me out.

She blew out a breath as I opened my eyes. "Nicely done! Now we're onto the next stage of your training."

Excitement coursed through me. Awesome! More new techniques!

Her eyes crinkled and her lips quirked up in a small smirk. "King Kai? We're ready now."

King Kai and Pikkon walked over the crest of the hill behind Cressa. "Already? Well, that's Goku for you! He's always been a quick learner when it comes to any kind of fighting techniques. Pikkon?"

I stood up as my face contorted into a grin. "Pikkon? Am I going to spar with him now?"

Cressa stood up as well. "Yes. You are going to spar with Pikkon. This won't be like any sort of sparring match you've had before. You will need to deal with me as well as him."

I smirked. "Fighting off two warriors at the same time isn't too hard."

She laughed lightly and crossed her arms. "Not like that. You see I'm not leaving the ground. In fact, I'm not leaving this spot – at least not right away."

A familiar, deep voice reached my ears. "Goku! Get your Saiyan butt over here and let's do this! You owe me a match after skipping out on the last one!"

I rubbed my neck. "Sorry, Pikkon!"

Pikkon and I lifted into the air and flew a short distance away and landed. We slid into our fighting stances as my heart raced at the prospect of picking up where we left off.

Pikkon smirked at me. "Something tells me I'm going to like this more than you will, Goku."

He launched his first attack: a right hook aimed for my face but I blocked it easily and countered with a fist aimed for his stomach. Once my fist slammed into its target, Pikkon slid back several feet but recovered from the blow quickly and never lost his footing.

He flew at me and set himself up for a kick aimed for my kidney and I blocked it, but the power behind it almost knocked me off balance and – aware of my opening – I Instant Transmissioned myself behind and a little above him and caught him off guard with a foot aimed for the side of his head.

He must have sensed me because he ducked at the last possible second and countered with quickly flipping himself up to land a kick in my stomach and I barely blocked it and lost myself in our sparring match, exchanging blow after blow with him when – with no warning – a searing pain tore its way into my head and I was on the ground scrabbling at my head for several moments before I realized what was happening.

I pushed up my defenses and the pain lessened considerably and I got back up, being sure to maintain that wall and launched my own counterattack against Cressa but hadn't yet left the ground.

I was careless. That shouldn't have happened. I was lucky we were just sparring.

I sensed Pikkon behind me a half second before he appeared, spun around and barely blocked his elbow aimed for the base of my neck and I countered with a left jab to his face and found my mark and he careened a short distance away before recovering.

That was all the time I needed. I launched myself back into the air, and flew at him, intending a feint for his stomach and disappeared at the last possible second and reappeared behind him with my elbow aimed for the base of his neck.

All the while, I felt attack after attack slam into the wall in my head and exchanged many more blows with both of my opponents, and I realized – with a fair amount of satisfaction – I was getting good at that.

From then on, our training matches consisted of another warrior, a human by the name of Olibu, Pikkon, and a few others ganging up on me while I fought off Cressa in my head. That was certainly one of the most unusual challenges and training regimes I've encountered in my short time in Other World and I loved every minute.

* * *

 

"Son Goku."

In the middle of a particularly intense session about a month after Cressa found me on Grand Kai's planet, a deep, ancient, booming voice reverberated throughout my entire body, and caused my very bones to vibrate from the force of it.

I froze. That voice must have been addressing all of us, because not just my head snapped up.

"Porunga?"

"Yes. You are being summoned, Son Goku. Do you wish to return to the world of the living?"

After all that training, I was ready. "Yes."

An odd, indescribable sensation lanced through me. I heard gasps and looked at the warriors around me with my eyebrows raised. They pointed over my head and I followed their gaze.

My halo was gone. I was alive. I was about to go back to my family after only being dead for two months. I thought it would be a lot longer than that before I saw them again.

Cressa ran up to me, shortly followed by King Kai.

She hugged me and tugged down my head so she could peck me on the cheek. "You've done extremely well with your training. You are ready. Practice as much as you can with Chichi and Gohan."

I nodded. "I plan on it!"

Her eyes crinkled. "It was so great meeting you, Goku. I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to know my daughter married such a kind, compassionate, and strong man. I am proud to call you my Son-in-Law."

I rubbed the back of my neck and felt heat rush to my cheeks as I stared at the ground and murmured, "Aw, thanks…"

"If you can, will you pass along some messages for me?"

I looked back up at her. "Of course! It's the least I can do!"

She smiled, but her eyes were tight and shining with tears. "Tell Chichi I love her and miss her. Tell her I'm extremely proud of her and the woman she has become. Tell Gohan someday, when the time is right, we will meet but hopefully not for a very long time. Tell my husband I miss him and love him so much and I will see him again, but with any luck not too soon. Tell them all I will be watching over them and that I love them very much."

I nodded as I carefully memorized every word.

I grinned as an idea struck me. "My Grandpa Gohan – my son's namesake and the man who raised me – got to come back to Earth for a day when I was a child. Maybe you can do the same! Thank you! For everything, Cressa! It was great getting to know you."

Her face lit up with so much joy, her smile shined with the intensity of the sun.

I felt a tap on my forearm and looked down to a familiar, smiling light blue face. "You have about a month until this Saiyan arrives. Train hard with your family. Good luck, Goku. Cressa and I will be watching and cheering you all on. Now get going."

I waved as I prepared for my Instant Transmission to the Check-in Station, but my eyes lingered on one face in particular. A pretty face with tears rolling down her cheeks despite her smile.

I dropped my hand from my forehead as I tried to figure out something else I could do for her. Then, I had the perfect idea.

I grabbed her elbow and pulled her a little ways away from the group.

"Goku?"

I dug into my pants pocket in search of something in particular to give her.

A second later, I found what I was after.

I carefully pulled out the small, crinkled image. I looked at it one last time, the smiling faces of my wife, my son, my Father-in-Law, and myself gazing up at me.

I held the picture out to her and spoke quietly. "This was the last picture taken of all of us just a day or two before the Cell Games. Chichi's pregnant in this picture even though she didn't know it at the time. I want you to have it. Just… don't tell anyone about it, okay? It might get taken away."

She gazed down at the picture, running light fingers over each of our faces, as more tears spilled down her cheeks. "Goku… I don't know how to thank you for this."

I put a hand on her shoulder for just a minute before I pulled back and stepped away with a wave. "See ya later!"

I put two fingers to my forehead, transported myself to the Check-in Station to check _out_ , and – once King Yemma stamped something in his log book and waved me off – I concentrated on the _ki_ I wanted and opened my eyes a second later to find myself twenty feet away from Chichi.

I decided to suppress my power so I could have a few minutes with her before Gohan sensed me.

I took a minute to do a sweep of most of the planet with my senses to check for any unusual powers like I promised Cressa I would, but found nothing. I told King Kai as much and he passed the message to Cressa.

I was a little disappointed with not finding even a hint of anything unfamiliar, but my disappointment was short lived as the wind shifted a sweet, very enticing scent in my direction, pulling my attention back to the beautiful woman meditating with her back to me several feet away.

Her smell was different – stronger, almost. Not just stronger, but there were new notes of something else in it.

I bit my lip, trying to figure it out.

There were notes of some kind of irresistible sharp, spiciness in her smell that weren't there before. Maybe that was because of the Block being lifted. Whatever it was, I loved it, but I couldn't let it cloud my mind – at least, not right then.

It wasn't just her smell that had changed, but her energy had, too. Her power was _much_ bigger even as relaxed as she was in her meditation. Still felt like Chichi, just… bigger. I probed her energy a little further, in search of something – or some _one_ – much smaller and then I sensed it: A faint hum harmonizing with Chichi's own unique hum of energy, but still separate from hers and distinct.

My lips tugged up into a small smile.

I probed that tiny energy as I stared at my wife. Her long hair was down – waving softly in the cool, light breeze – and I was content to just watch her as the familiar mountain smells filled my nose and the sun shown high in the cloudless sky.

I was home.


	3. Home For Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku is alive again and home, but has to patch up his marriage. Even he knows a happy wife makes for a happy home. Toward the end of the chapter, Goku sees just what his wife went through twenty years ago through her eyes.

**Chapter 3:**

**Home for Good**

I cracked my eyes open when I noticed an energy very near me, but I remained relaxed. I instinctively and carefully probed this energy and felt no evil in it. I didn't retain the ability to sense energies while my Block was still in place, but when the breakthrough happened, that ability along with all of my others flooded back to me. It had happened just a month ago and I still struggled to remember my training, but probing an energy and sensing energies around me was simple enough.

That energy puzzled me.

It wasn't Gohan's, but I knew the energy from somewhere. I reached out for him and – sure enough – he was at home in his room studying like I asked him to. That energy near me somehow… felt similar to his? I wasn't sure. I lightly brushed the mind of the person.

With that light contact, a flurry of unguarded thoughts and feelings rushed into me.

Not just unguarded… it sort of felt like… whoever that was welcomed the contact.

Love. Regret. Sadness. Even a little nervousness. All of that swirled around thoughts of… me?

_It couldn't be._

_Could it?_

I supposed there was only one way to find out. I stood up and turned around slowly.

I felt my jaw drop and my eyes went wide as my eyes focused on a certain wild-haired man in a familiar orange _gi_. I was so sure I was dreaming. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, fully expecting him to disappear.

He was still there.

I felt that strange sensation of blood draining out of my face as my heart momentarily stopped beating and my head started spinning. I swayed and thought for a second I was about to faint, but somehow maintained consciousness. His left hand twitched toward me, but I steadied myself.

My voice small, I stuttered the name of the man I thought was dead for good: "G-Goku?"

He brought his hand up in a small wave. "Hi, Chichi!"

"Y-You're… here."

He nodded and his forehead crinkled as his lips quirked up in a small, tender smile. "I'm back!"

My brain chewed on those two simple words for what felt like an eternity while I did nothing but stare at him.

A familiar, intense rage began to bubble up from deep within and I snapped out of my blank, wordless shock. I felt my face contort into one of pure fury, as everything I've been furious with him for over the last two months slammed into me and I lost control.

I ran up to him – he tensed slightly – and grabbed him by the collar of his orange _gi_ and pulled him down so we were eyelevel, my face inches from his. "HOW DARE YOU MAKE GOHAN FIGHT THAT MONSTER! THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN _YOU_ OUT THERE! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!? WHILE MAKING GOHAN BEAT THAT AWFUL MONSTER, YOU DIED AND REFUSED TO RETURN EVEN THOUGH YOU COULD. WHY? _WHY_?"

I slammed a fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him because he didn't even try to dodge it.

While he was doubled over, I turned and fled on foot without giving him a chance to tear down my anger as fast as my legs could carry me, which was pretty danged fast since I had my power back. I raced across the land, my bare feet pounding on the grass.

Every stride calmed me a little bit and cleared my head enough that I vaguely wondered what Goku thought of that punch from me that was strong enough that he actually _felt_ it – not to mention that _I_ didn't break my hand – and wondered what he thought seeing me race away at a speed impossible for me to hit the last time he saw me.

Without realizing where I was going, I ended up at the mouth of a cave with lovely crystal formations jutting from the rock deep within and hesitated at the mouth of it before walking into its narrow black maw. I didn't know why my feet led me there. We discovered the cave on a walk together a week before the Cell Games and ended up spending quite a bit of time in it.

I hadn't been there since. It was too painful.

I walked slowly deeper into the cave, making sure to keep my senses sharp for any predators who might be hiding in there – evidence of their presence scattered about the floor. The only thing I heard was the occasional crunch under my feet of the tiny bones of long dead prey, the sound echoing eerily in the empty cave.

I finally reached the heart of the cave, the crystals barely visible in the dim light. I formed a tiny ball of energy in my hand and lifted it up – its light not quite enough to light the crystals as brilliantly as Goku did. I gave it more power and was rewarded with beautiful patterns and tiny rainbows formed by the diffracted light dancing across the rough walls of the cave with each movement of my hand…

" _Hey, Chichi! Watch this!" His voice echoes around the ten-foot wide chamber._

_I turn to face him and see that boyish grin I know would be plastered on his handsome face._

_A small smile touches my lips as his bright yellow aura flares up, and I stare around me. The light he emits diffracts through the crystals and creates beautiful patterns almost like water reflections and casts tiny rainbows on the rough, dark walls of the small chamber._

_I pick up a loose crystal from the ground at my feet, hold it up and shift it in my fingers, making small sections of the patterns and tiny rainbows dance across the walls, as some landed on me, making my skin sparkle._

I took that crystal home that night as a souvenir and set it in our memory box – something else I haven't seen since. That box was just something else that was too painful to open.

Why didn't he come back?

I asked myself that question many times. I knew that same question was on Gohan's mind, too. Goku's enemies were gone, but the peace didn't last but hardly a month before I sensed that energy that tore through my Block. We _needed_ him – impending battle or not. Why didn't he see that?

I allowed the small, warm ball of energy hovering inches above my hand to dissipate and I was plunged back into the near pitch-black darkness of the cave's crystal-lined chamber.

I felt my way to a wall, sat down and brought my knees to my chin, as tears sheeted down my cheeks.

He was alive again. I should have been overjoyed, but I was held back. My earlier rage was just to hide the root of the problem: The overwhelming pain I felt when Gohan told me he wasn't coming back and the fact that he dragged my little boy into his battles!

Seeing him out there… he just waved at me like it was no big deal. It was as if he was simply coming home after being out for the day training. He truly didn't understand what he did to me – to all of us – by leaving and reappearing as flippantly as he did.

I sensed a power at the mouth of our cave – a power that had quickly grown very familiar to me. When I sensed him, I remembered thinking I should have masked mine. I wasn't ready to be found. I realized I should have picked a better hiding place from the get go – one that he wasn't familiar with.

 _Oh, well. Too late to do anything about it now,_ I thought to myself, resigned.

He lingered at the entrance for quite a while before following me in. The sound of his boots crunching gravel and tiny bones slowly grew louder. A minute later, his footsteps echoed in the chamber. The scraping of loose dirt over hard rock reached my ears from the far side and then silence.

I could feel his eyes boring holes into me, even in the darkness. His eyesight was always very sharp even in instances where humans would be blinded by darkness; he could see enough to get around and I knew he could see me.

I stared pointedly at the ground in front of me. The cave was too dark for me to make out his face at all anyway, and that was okay with me. I still didn't want to look at him.

I kept those feelings bottled up for months and exploded when the reason for my grief and anger finally stood in front of me and then bolted, but not before landing a solid punch in his gut.

I hid them from Gohan because there was no point in making him feel worse. He blamed himself for Goku's death, and I didn't want to add to his burden.

Goku was alive. He was just on the other side of the chamber. I had dreamed of having him back almost every night over the last two months, wanted that – _needed_ that – for so long. He was just feet from me, and was very much alive.

I had calmed down considerably, but that didn't mean I was ready to dive into his arms as if nothing was wrong.

I finally broke the silence – still staring at the ground – my voice soft. "You didn't want to come back. It's been so hard on us and now, you're back. For a battle because somehow you found out about that powerful, evil energy approaching Earth. I really don't know what to think."

I fought to keep my tears under control but failed miserably and angrily wiped them away.

A sigh reached my ears. "Chichi… I stayed away because I thought you, Gohan, and the rest of the world are safer without me."

With the mention of my baby boy's name, I felt myself on the edge of snapping once again, but managed not to. Barely. "You shouldn't have made Gohan fight! He's only _eleven years old_ , Goku!"

"I'm sorry! There was no other option, Chichi! I wasn't strong enough to beat Cell! Only Gohan was."

I felt my eyes go wide – it couldn't be true. " _You_ weren't strong enough?"

"I wasn't. In the Time Chamber while we were training, I couldn't push my power up and reach the next transformation, but Gohan did."

"You _can't_ be serious! Gohan is… stronger than _you_?"

"Yes! He's a lot stronger than me! On the off chance anything came up, I knew he could save the world."

That anger welled up in me again and before I could stop myself, I snapped with, "That's _not_ a burden an _eleven year old_ should carry!"

Silence.

I sighed. "You're wrong, you know. You staying away won't keep powerful evil from showing up and trying to destroy the planet."

He sighed again and when he spoke, he was so quiet. "I know. I see that, now."

 _Did_ he know? I should explain what happened a month after he died – and maybe share a certain other piece of news I discovered. " _So much_ has happened since you've been gone, Goku. I'm… different now and there's–"

"I know, Chichi. I know about everything. That'swhy I came back. I came back to help you and Gohan!" His voice took on that boyish enthusiasm, a tone I was much more accustomed to hearing out of him, as he said, "You're never going to believe who I met in Other World!"

I was confused by the sudden subject change. "What does _that_ have to do with anything?"

I heard a crunch of dirt and something scraped across the ground. "That has everything to do with everything. She's why I'm here right now. Chichi, I met your mother and she told me _everything_."

I sucked in a breath. " _What!?_ My – My _mother_?"

I couldn't believe what I heard. He met my mother.

"Yep. I met your mom – well actually, she found me. You look just like her, too. Your voice is almost exactly the same. Your hair is long and straight like hers but yours is darker. You have her eyes. When I first saw her, I thought she _was_ you." He giggled after that last bit.

He fell silent for a short while and I could feel his intense gaze on me once again.

When he started talking, his tone was soft and tender. "Chichi, when I first saw her was when I realized how badly I missed you. I wanted to walk right up to King Kai and ask him to contact you so I could tell you I'm coming back, but I couldn't. At least not right then. When she explained everything to me and told me about this other Saiyan on her way here, I was so frustrated I wouldn't be able to help you because I was dead!"

That tender tone – along with picturing what I was sure would be a matching look in his eyes – almost broke me. I was still angry with him for making Gohan fight that terrible monster, but I realized – if a little slowly – Gohan was about to participate in a battle that had the potential to be every bit as huge.

Goku was back to help us. Not just for the sake of fighting, but to help and protect his growing family.

_With Goku back with us, maybe we actually stand a chance._

That was a comforting thought but still wouldn't end my ever-present worry that bubbled to the surface in the quietness of that cave with my newly revived husband – worry that spilled out of my eyes.

I sniffled. "I'm scared, Goku."

There was another scrape of dirt followed by quick footsteps and I felt warm fingers brush my tears away. "We will win, Babe."

I finally did the very thing I've missed so dearly over the last couple of months and dove into his arms, burying myself in his broad, warm chest. He stiffened at first in surprise, but quickly wrapped his warm arms around me and pulled me onto his lap.

I shivered slightly as the cool, damp cave air got to me and he held me tighter, one of his large hands resting gently on my stomach – wordlessly telling me he knew about that other piece of news, too. We cuddled in the cave in comfortable silence for quite a while, neither of us in any hurry to move.

After several minutes, I felt warm lips brush against my ear and heard a soft whisper, his warm breath sending pleasant tingles down my back. "Remember this?"

I felt Goku's body tense for just a second before brilliant, almost painfully bright yellow light exploded outward away from him – the heat from his energy warming me completely. I shielded my eyes with one hand from the intensity of light and blinked several times, urging my eyes to adjust after sitting in pitch-black darkness for so long.

Strong but gentle fingers wrapped around my wrist and insistently tugged my hand away from my face. My eyes finally adjusted and I gazed around at a sight I didn't think I'd get to see ever again.

The diffracted light bouncing through the crystals, casting patterns and little rainbows on the dark, uneven walls of the cave instantly mesmerized me.

I twisted in his arms to stare into his eyes. The tenderness in his gaze made more tears fall.

His tender expression shifted into one of innocent concern – confusing me briefly – as he reached up with a large hand to stroke my cheek. "What's wrong, Chichi? Why are you sad?"

Oh, of course.

I playfully batted at his broad chest from my seat in his lap. "I'm not sad, Goku! I'm happy! You're back and I'm _so happy_! I missed you so much!"

His eyes lit up, his forehead crinkled, and my insides were a puddle at my feet.

He pulled me close again and slipped a hand behind my head as his face inched closer to mine, his eyes and mine half-lidded then fully closed as our lips connected. My heart fluttered in my chest – like the light, quick beat of a sparrow's wings.

Our kiss was a solid minute of pure bliss and when we pulled apart, we were both slightly breathless and our faces a little bit flushed before we got up and walked out of the cave, hand in hand, but not before I read the one-word promise of _later_ in Goku's eyes.

My senses alerted me to Gohan approaching very, very fast.

He must have sensed his father when he went Super Saiyan. I glanced up at Goku to see his head turned in the direction of our son as he released his hold on his energy and his hair wilted down to its normal, wild shape.

A blue and white blur slammed into Goku and they both went flying several feet before skidding to a stop, leaving a gouge in the grass – and massive grass stains on Gohan's new jeans. Thankfully, Goku had the good sense to drop my hand right before impact so I wasn't pulled down with him.

I looked down at my boys, Gohan's face buried in his father's chest and his shoulders heaving, muffled sobs reaching my ears.

Seeing them together sent a burst of joy through my mended heart. Gohan was saying something but it was too muffled and soft for me to make out but his shoulders shook so I could guess what it was. Goku just rubbed his back and held him close.

After a few minutes, Gohan's shoulders stilled, he pulled away and the two of them stood up. Gohan stared up at his father with the brightest smile I had about ever seen him wear his eyes still moist. He was so very happy. That meant the world to me.

It was the sweetest picture, Gohan hanging off Goku's arm, staring up at him bright eyed and a huge smile plastered on his face and Goku looking down at him with a small, relaxed smile playing at the corners of his lips. It was absolute perfection and I wished I had a camera. Camera or not, I knew I'd _never_ forget that moment as long as I lived.

A massive rumble, almost like the sound of an earthquake seconds before it hits shattered the picture perfect scene in front of me. That noise could only be coming from one place.

The culprit rubbed the back of his neck and laughed, his cheeks tinged pink. I crossed my arms and gave him a look. I rolled my eyes as Gohan laughed.

"Dad! Last one home's a rotten egg!" With that, Gohan blasted off in the sky, the shockwave rustling my clothes.

I sighed exasperatedly. "Gohan!"

At the same time, Goku blasted off after him with a whiny, "No fair! You had a head start!"

Well then.

They were just going to have to wait for their meal. It was going to take me nearly an hour to get home on foot from where I was. I supposed if I sprinted, I could cut that down to a minute probably, thanks to my newly reawakened Saiyan power. The trip would be even faster if I could fly, but I didn't know how to do that yet. Maybe I'd have to get Goku to teach me.

My mind made up, I tensed my legs to take my first stride and my right foot slammed into the soft grass but my left never got the chance because I felt my stomach end up somewhere in the general vicinity of my feet and I shrieked.

I was airborne with two hands clamped around my waist. After a second, he shifted me so I was held tightly against his broad, warm chest.

"SON GOKU!"

He giggled. "Sorry, Honey."

With a playful snarl, he transformed again, and gave himself a massive speed boost and caught up to Gohan. Despite that, Gohan still had him beat and touched down in our front yard just seconds before Goku and me.

Goku's rich chuckle sounded in my ear, sounding nothing but proud. "Well, I guess that makes me the rotten egg."

Gohan laughed.

He carried me inside and set me down in the living room.

My boys were all smiles as they chatted and caught up. Gohan had barely smiled at all the last two months. As he chatted with his daddy, he seemed unable to wipe that grin off his face. I smiled but I excused myself and stepped into the kitchen to set to work on dinner.

I hummed as I busied myself in the kitchen. That was the happiest I'd felt the last couple months, too. I giggled as a very loud rumble echoing throughout the house drowned out even the sounds of the fish Gohan had brought home earlier that morning sizzling in my favorite frying pan, unable to be annoyed with my husband's massive appetite.

A creek of a door caught my attention and I glanced over my shoulder to see Goku wearing a hopeful expression on his face. I knew exactly what he wanted to know.

"Dinner is almost ready, Goku. Just a few more minutes."

His stomach rumbled again in response, and a second later, an equally loud rumble from the living room sounded followed immediately by laughter. Some things really never changed.

I found comfort in that.

The truth was, everything was different. _I_ was different. It was very unsettling and I tried to keep my uneasiness pushed out of my mind. The training Gohan and I started up as soon as we sensed that energy that night a month before helped, but I still had a hard time sleeping at night. I knew Gohan did, too.

Gohan had just beaten Cell and lost his father two months ago. Then Goku came back to us to help us with a battle – another battle Gohan would be dragged into. It was unavoidable, and yet I hated it. The protective momma-bear in me wanted to hole him up to keep him safe, but even I knew I couldn't keep him cooped up forever.

I continued down this anxiety-ridden train of thought as I set the table, complete with the food. I stepped back a moment to admire my handiwork and make sure I wasn't missing anything. It was a very good thing I had not broken the habit of cooking enough to feed Goku.

I poked my head into the sitting room. "Boys! Dinner's ready! Wash up!"

A large orange blur and a smaller blue and white blur right behind him whizzed passed me and came back into focus as they seated themselves at the table. Honestly, didn't they _hear_ the second part at all?

My right eyebrow twitched. "Oh, no you _don't_ , young man! Your father may be back with us, but that does not give you permission to forget your manners. You _will_ go wash up before you get one bite."

Gohan cringed. "Yes, Mom."

He got up and dashed upstairs, his super speed footsteps sounding like they were pounding holes into our floor as we heard them over our heads.

Goku cautiously walked up to me wearing a hopeful expression, with his hands clasped in front of his chest. "Can I have a pass? I was just wished back."

Those eyes.

Dang it.

I had _no_ chance.

I silently cursed those puppy-dog eyes of his. "Oh, _fine._ You can have a pass. Heaven help you if you so much as _touch_ the food before we are all seated."

His face lit up, he pecked me on the cheek, and dashed back to his seat as Gohan returned moments later.

They were polite enough to wait for me to be seated, but that was it. The moment I reached for the serving spoon of the noodle dish in front of me, all bets were off and their cavemen tendencies reared their ugly heads, as food flew in all directions.

They polished plate after plate off like nothing in the world was wrong. They ate like they always ate: very quickly and very messily. They ate like there wasn't a thing to worry about. They happily shoveled food down just like they did the night before the Cell Games.

Goku was ever the optimist but I knew even he got nervous. He was careful not to let anyone see, but I could see through his smile when he hid it. During our meal, he was relaxed as ever, as was Gohan.

Weren't they worried about the battle?

"Chichi?"

My head snapped up and I glanced back and forth between two very concerned pairs of eyes.

I was confused for a moment – until I glanced at my untouched plate of food. Oh. I had forgotten to eat I was so wrapped up in my worries.

"Mom? Are you okay?"

I gave him a reassuring smile. "Just fine, Sweetie. Just thinking is all."

To drive the point home, I picked up my fork and knife and dug into my somewhat cold food.

Goku pushed his umpteenth empty plate away from him and rubbed his stomach. "I'm stuffed! That was awesome! So, what're you thinking about, Chichi?"

"Just… how different everything is. I'm different. I'm still me, but I can do some of what you two can do now. After living as a human for most of my life thanks to the Block, it's… a little overwhelming. Things went from being completely normal to… well… crazy in the middle of dinner a month ago. Even though it's been a month since it all came back, I'm still having trouble adjusting."

Goku gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Chichi. Gohan and I will help you. Say, how did that happen, anyway?"

"Huh? Oh. How did my powers come back to me?"

He nodded.

"Can I tell him about it, Mom?"

I glanced at Gohan. "Sure, Gohan."

His eyebrows knitted together. "Well, a month ago right after we sat down to dinner, I sensed a weird energy. It was huge and very evil. It felt far away, like it was still in space. Pretty much the same second I sensed it, I glanced at Mom and she was… frozen. It was weird. Her chopsticks were frozen in her hand halfway to her mouth and she was shaking really hard. She looked far away, like she wasn't in the room with me and completely terrified. It was sort of scary.

"I reached out to touch her and when I did, I saw what ended up being snippets of a memory from her childhood. Bits and pieces of intense images and feelings that I had no idea how to make sense of flooded into my head – I didn't even know it _was_ a memory at first. She dropped her chopsticks and ran to her room, but the look she gave me before she turned and ran… Her face was pale. After a couple of minutes, I followed her into her room where she told me what she is and explained what happened and why. She also… _showed_ me that memory."

The whole time during Gohan's story, Goku was staring at me, his eyebrows pulled together while he processed what Gohan said.

His expression shifted to one of confusion as he looked at his son. "You said your mother _showed_ you a memory, Gohan?"

"Yeah. Mom put her hands on my temples and closed her eyes. I closed mine, too and when I did, it was like I was in her head. It was strange. I saw – through her eyes – something that happened when she was very small. My heart was pounding when it was over. It was as if I was experiencing it."

Goku turned to me, slightly wide-eyed. "I had no idea that was possible! Can you show that to me, Chichi?"

I sighed. "Sure, Goku, but not right now. Later tonight."

I didn't want to relive that right then. When I first sensed that power, it was like I experienced that night all over again. Showing that memory to Gohan forced me to relive it a second time and I wasn't anxious to do it a third, but I knew Goku would need to see it.

"Okay."

Our dinner finished, Gohan stood up to help me clean off the table and dishes.

I smiled at my sweet boy. "Don't worry about it, Gohan. Are you done with your schoolwork for the day?"

He grimaced.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Then go get your work done."

"Yes, Mom."

He disappeared down the hall and I heard his door shut. Training or not, I wouldn't let him slack off on his studies.

I started working on the dishes and – surprisingly – Goku helped. I scrubbed while he rinsed and dried. He helped me put away the dishes and – by the time we were done – there were only a few casualties.

I gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Honey."

His eyes lit up and he gave me his typical cheesy grin that I loved so much and missed dearly in the two months he was gone. From what Gohan explained to me when he returned from fighting Cell, it seemed I wasn't going to see that smile for a very long time. Yet, Goku was in our kitchen, smiling at me.

I returned his smile with one equally as bright. In addition to making my knees go weak, when he smiled at me like that, he always pulled one out of me, no matter what was happening.

I turned around after switching off the kitchen lights to head upstairs to our bedroom and heard his quiet footsteps right behind me.

We stepped into our bedroom and shut the door behind us. I heard a rustle of clothes behind me, and turned to see him pulling his clothes off and throwing them on the floor. I rolled my eyes. Some things definitely never changed. I decided to get after him about that the next day. I was too busy loving the fact he was back with us again to be too mad at him for that.

I undressed myself – much more neatly, I might add – and changed into one of my usual nightgowns and I let my hair down like I always did at night.

When I slid under the sheets, Goku was already waiting for me. He watched me with a hopeful expression on his face.

I cocked an eyebrow at him.

Then it clicked. I remembered I told him "later tonight".

It was later. I sighed. "You're waiting for me to show you that memory, aren't you?"

His hopeful expression turned into an eager grin – there was that endearingly boyish enthusiasm. "Yeah! I want to see how this works! Your mother mentioned these rare abilities when she trained me, but she didn't mention showing someone else one of your own memories."

I smiled despite the seriousness of what I was about to show him. "Okay. I'll show you."

I shifted closer to him and placed my fingers first on his cheeks for a moment, then brought them up to his temples and let the memory of that horrible night flow as our eyes drifted closed…

* * *

 

_I joyfully run through a field of wildflowers as high as my waist, their wonderful aroma wafting through the air. Mom and Dad – sitting on a blanket nearby – wave me over._

BOOM _. My ears pick up disembodied shouts and screams. I look at my parents, still sitting on the blanket in the meadow, waving at me and smiling as if nothing is wrong._

BOOM _. My dream dissolves as something startles me awake._

Must have just been a nightmare _, I think to myself. I leave my room and set off for my parent's room down the corridor, needing a hug._

BOOM. _The whole castle shakes, my ears catching more screams and shouts._ This isn't a dream, _I realize._

_Then I sense them. Two huge, evil powers. Very close by. Dread seizes my heart._

_I run as fast as I can, my heart pounding. Absolute terror, my mind racing, unable to form a coherent thought, panic pushing me forward._

BOOM. _I lose my balance from the quaking and fall hard, skidding to a stop, smacking my head on sculptures toppled by the shaking. Intense pain explodes in my head._

_The whole corridor is suddenly plunged into pitch-black darkness. I can't see._

_A blinding flash followed by another bang, this one louder and closer than the others. My confused mind realizes these bangs are explosions causing the castle to quake._

_I cry out, "Mommy? Daddy?"_

_Pillars and beams collapse all around me, and I try to find shelter in the chaos and rubble._

_I close my eyes and curl into a ball, my ears covered, crying, and shaking uncontrollably, the whole time the two huge powers I sense oppressively hanging over me. I almost can't breathe from the weight of my own dread._

_Without warning, I feel myself get scooped up in giant, familiar arms._

" _D-Daddy?" I squeak._

_I slowly uncurl from my tight ball and bury my face into my Daddy's big chest._

_Relief._

_I feel a gentle, soothing rub on my back and turn around in my father's arms to see my mother smiling at me, softly illuminated by a single candle in her hand. I feel safe again. Secure. My parents are with me now. Everything will be ok._

_A blinding flash and_ BANG. _I feel my father jolted by the shockwave and he holds me tighter. The candle goes out, and we are plunged back into darkness._

_I hear my mom shout, "GET HER OUT OF HERE! RIGHT NOW!"_

_I can't see her, but I feel her running away from us – her voice still ringing in my head._

" _MOMMY! NO!" I scream._

_I feel my father hesitate. "Don't leave Mommy!" I plead to him. He holds me tighter, his huge hands protectively covering my head and the rest of my body. I feel him turn around and run, as fast as he can, away from the two huge, evil powers, away from my Mommy._

_I hear a long scream of pain from a familiar voice, and feel the_ BANG _of the largest explosion yet, causing my Daddy to stumble but he presses forward. An unfamiliar pain clenches my heart, and I realize I'm crying. I bury myself deeper into my Daddy's huge chest and he holds me tighter. He knows, but still he presses on. I can't feel her anymore. I know deep in my heart she's gone, a void in my heart already forming. Overwhelmed, I feel myself fading… Fight it… Too tired… Head hurts… Blackness swallows me and I surrender to it…_

My eyes snapped open and I glanced around wildly, panic-stricken. My heart was in my throat, pounding painfully hard. It was as if I was waking up from an especially terrifying, vivid nightmare – except that one actually happened.

Instinctively, I quickly expanded my senses, but felt no one but my wife and my son close by. Much farther away, I sensed that evil energy.

That energy matched one of the powers from Chichi's memory.

I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and twitched, startled, but quickly calmed down. My heart dropped back into a normal rhythm and found its way back into my chest.

I brought my gaze up to stare into Chichi's tearful eyes, but I couldn't make my voice work so I grabbed her hand and pulled her close, as a sudden surge of protectiveness swept through me. With our close contact, I felt the tiny energy of our baby and placed a hand on her still flat stomach.

That surge of protectiveness brought steely resolve with it – quickly beating down the terror of what I had just seen – and I swore to her right then and there that I would protect her and our children. "We will _not_ lose."

I felt her nod slowly against me.

I tipped her chin up with a finger and brought my lips to hers. Our kiss quickly deepened as our hands wondered over each other's bodies. It wasn't long before the little bit of clothing we wore to bed was scattered about our room and we were lost to each other.


	4. Food and Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two most important things to a Saiyan are food and training, but not necessarily in that order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is a little bit early! I'm gonna be busy most of the day tomorrow. I wont have any time to write or post anything because I'll be preparing my house for company. Instead of making you guys wait, I thought I'd post it now. :D

**Chapter 4:**

**Food and Training**

_The Next Morning_

My eyes slowly opened. It was very early in the morning and Goku's first morning back. The sun had only barely begun to rise, its first hint of light barely visible in our room. A loud snore sounded beside me, making me jump in my sleepy state, but I smiled as soon as I realized what that loud snore meant.

I reached over and brushed his cheek with my fingers. He cracked an eye open and gave me a sleepy, lopsided grin. He sighed as my fingers continued to glide up and down over his slightly leathery skin covered in intricate patterns of old, tiny scars. It amazed me just how _few_ scars he had on his body even though he sustained some severe injuries in battles over the years.

I felt his cheek muscles pull taught as a giant yawn tugged his mouth wide open and he stretched like a cat.

His eyes opened completely and immediately crinkled. "Morning, Babe."

"Good morning, Sweetheart."

A loud rumble sounded next to me. I giggled.

I slipped out of bed and pulled on a sleeveless dress of the same style I wore to the Twenty-third World Martial Arts Tournament all those years ago and did my hair for the day. The dress was a deep burgundy with white pants. Two slits ran high up my legs on both sides, higher than any regular dress I wore for ease of movement.

"I'll get going on breakfast."

I glanced at him as I left the room.

He flashed me a toothy, bright grin.

My heart pounded, his smile dazzling enough that it made me clumsy and I bumped into the doorframe as I backed out.

I giggled nervously, mumbling some kind of incoherent gibberish as I backed out of the door. It amazed me how easily he could fluster me like that even after twelve years of marriage.

A short while later, I found myself in the kitchen, nearly done with our meal. My powers coming back certainly made things easier as far as cooking was concerned. I had multiple dishes cooking simultaneously. I had a couple in the oven, my giant wok on the stove, and eight more dishes hovering in the air, cooking them with little bits of energy.

I had mastered that method just a few days after getting my power back. I was amazed at how much easier it made things in the kitchen and how much faster meals were finished. I had a couple of hours of extra free time during the day that I quickly got used to having.

As I worked, I heard footsteps followed by a quiet gasp. I glanced over my shoulder to see Goku standing behind me in his usual orange _gi_ , pure awe on his face.

Another set of footsteps approached. "Pretty cool, huh Dad?"

"Yeah! That's… amazing! She's doing a lot better than we did. Remember when you tried to cook that roast beef with a small blast in the Time Chamber?"

My son's sweet laugh filled room. "Yeah! I accidentally made your hair catch fire and you ran around in a panic like a chicken with its head cut off."

I wasn't familiar with that story. I chuckled at the image.

Goku laughed, too.

I checked on our food and – seeing it was done – extinguished the energy I was cooking with and pulled out several cooling racks. I asked Gohan to arrange them on the table and started floating dishes one by one onto the cooling racks.

In just a couple of minutes, the table was set and we ate – Goku as messily and as quickly as usual. I just rolled my eyes slightly, but couldn't bring myself to really be annoyed, much less angry.

After breakfast, I got up to get started on the dishes and noticed Goku staring at me out of the corner of my eye. I turned to face him fully and he was positively bouncing on the balls of his feet.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Yes, Goku?"

"I'm dying to see what all you can do, Chichi! Can you show me today?"

"You mean my power?"

He nodded eagerly.

I giggled. "Sure. We'll all go out as soon as I'm done with the dishes."

"Yes!"

He rushed over to stand by me at the sink and he rinsed and dried our dishes the fastest I've ever seen him do it. He broke a few, but I decided to let it slide just that one time.

The second he placed the last dish in the cabinet, he gently but insistently grabbed my hand and pulled me through the house almost to the front door. "Come on! Let's go!"

"In a minute, Goku! Be patient!"

He pouted slightly and I didn't bother to hide the smile on my face at just how funny he looked.

I pulled away from him and headed down the hall and over to Gohan's bedroom. I knocked on his door. "Gohan! Would you like to do some training today?"

In seconds, the door was thrown open, eagerness that matched his father's plain on his face.

My lips quirked up in an amused smile. "Go get your shoes on."

"'K!"

He dashed down the hall, but I never heard his feet hit the floor. I crossed my arms and frowned as he entered the room. "Gohan. What have I told you about flying in the house?"

He froze and cringed. "Sorry, Mom."

I heard a muffled giggle and I shot Goku an intense glare.

His jaw snapped shut and his amused smile instantly fell into an expression of nervousness.

I sighed, grabbed the capsule case from its spot on a side table next to our couch – the case I had been keeping well stocked with food for training with Gohan – walked to the front door and opened it for all of us. We stepped out.

The soft breeze wafted the wonderful smells of the woods all around us, the sharp scent of evergreen trees dominating the air, but my recently sharpened sense of smell detected other notes that my human nose could not. Notes of wildflowers in bloom from the clearings nearby, of decaying wood and leaf litter, and the musk of wild animals all combined to be smells of the woods that I had never experienced on that level. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I quickly grew to love it and I wondered how I ever really lived without my strong new senses.

I closed my eyes for a moment to allow the soft warm breeze to wash over me and I heard a low sigh to my left. Goku had the same idea I had. After a minute of simply enjoying the outdoors, his hand brushed mine and I intertwined my fingers with his.

He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Ready to go, Babe?"

"Sure."

He lifted a foot off the ground, almost dragging me into the air with him.

Gohan kept his feet on the ground. "Uh… Dad? Mom doesn't know how to fly yet. We ran to where we normally train."

He touched back down beside me looking a little bit shocked. "You _can't_!?"

I shook my head. "No. Can you teach me?"

His eyes lit up and his mouth split open in that huge grin that made me go weak at my knees. "This is going to be _great_! You're going to love it! Oh, I can't wait to teach you!"

Between one heartbeat and the next, he scooped me up and pulled me close to his chest and we zoomed off.

Gohan sped a little past Goku. "Follow me, Dad! Where we usually train is over here."

What took over an hour running full tilt only took a few minutes to reach by flying. Gohan had asked for a spot somewhat of a distance from the house so he could raise his power and really train without worrying about destroying anything other than a few trees.

The spot Gohan and I had been going to for weeks was a large clearing deep into the woods with a stream running through it that was perfect for drinking. The ground was covered in soft, deep grass perfect for meditation. I quickly found the shade of a large oak and sat at its base for meditation. It was my usual spot out there. It provided the perfect view of the clearing and – between that and our senses – no one could sneak up on us.

Before I lost myself to my warm up meditation, I made a suggestion to my boys: "Why don't you two spar until my meditation's over and then I will show you, Goku, what Gohan and I have been working on."

Goku beamed. "I can't wait! Let's do it, Gohan!"

"'K!"

They ran out to the center of the field and settled into their fighting stances and rushed each other. I watched for a few minutes before tuning them out and beginning my meditation in the comfortable, cool shade of the large oak and set to work trying to calm my ever-present nerves about what was to come.

* * *

Gohan and I finished our intense spar and dropped down on the soft grass in the center of the field on our butts. We were both hot and sweating. I was mildly out of breath and could feel multiple bruises forming on my body. He had fewer bruises and wasn't panting at all. He was so fast – much faster than me! Not to mention still much stronger than me and I was so proud of the way he handled himself during our spar and I let him know. I was thrilled I had more bruises than he did.

I very much enjoyed sparring with my fellow warriors in Other World, but sparring with my son was so much more fun and had lots of fun memories wrapped around it. I was so thankful I had the chance to experience that again – even if we were training for another battle.

"Dad?"

I faced Gohan, seeing he looked curious. "Hmm?"

"Why did you come back here? You haven't told me about that yet. I'm guessing it has something to do with that energy, right?"

"Yep! I met someone named Cressa – Chichi's mother – and she was the one to tell me about that energy and just what this Saiyan is after."

His eyes popped open wide. "Wow! What was she like? What did she look like? How did you meet her? How–?"

I laughed and held my hands up. "Whoa, slow down there, Champ! She was a lot like your mother in a lot of ways and looked a lot like her, too – except your mom has black hair and Cressa's was dark brown. She even _sounded_ just like Chichi. Your mother got her temper from her but–"

A quiet voice floated to us across the clearing. "I heard that, Son Goku."

I could hear the smirk in her voice.

I chuckled. "Chichi got her smile from Cressa and her eyes, too."

"How did you meet her, Dad?"

"Well, I was sparring with a friend I made up there named Pikkon and King Kai tried to call me down to talk to him. I ignored him for a while until an attack I was about to launch at Pikkon shifted my direction just enough to see your grandmother standing on the ground right next to King Kai and staring up at me. I was so shocked I dropped right out of the sky because I thought she was Chichi and even forgot all about the sparring match."

Gohan raised an eyebrow. " _You_ forgot about a _sparring_ match? That's hard to believe."

I laughed. "Yeah, I know that was surprising, but it's exactly what happened. In fact, I was so distracted, Pikkon landed a couple of good, solid hits on me but I was too focused on her to really care too much." I laughed again. "He was so mad at me for getting distracted."

Gohan laughed as familiar, toned arms wrapped around my neck. I felt a lithe form press against my back and a chin settled on top of my head.

I reached up to hold her hand. "Hey, Honey. Have a nice meditation?"

"It was fine, thanks. How was your sparring session?"

"It was an absolute blast! Gohan was _amazing_! It blows me away just how strong he is!"

"That's our Gohan!"

I gave Gohan a proud smile and watched as his cheeks turned slightly pink.

Chichi's arms left my neck as she moved to sit next to me. "I heard everything you said to Gohan so far. Tell us everything she told you. I have a lot of questions and I'm hoping you can give me some answers."

I nodded and told them everything Cressa explained to me about the traitor – leaving out the bit about exactly how Cressa died. I did intend to explain it to her because I thought she should know, but right then wasn't really the right time. I resolved to keep it hidden from her. We needed to start our training and I wanted her to be able to focus on that.

Chichi and Gohan were quiet through most of my explanation, only asking a question or two every now and again. When I reached the point that the traitor was someone from Cressa's own tribe, they gasped. Apparently, that was news to them.

"I never knew any of this, Goku! My mother told me so little about how she came to Earth. That night the Block lifted and I tried to answer Gohan's questions, I realized how _little_ I knew. It was so _frustrating_! I don't even know how she…"

Her eyes welled up as she trailed off.

I reached out and wrapped my hand around her clenched fist. "Chichi… We need to focus on our training. Your mother told me exactly what happened and I'll explain everything later. I promise. But for now, we need to focus."

She closed her eyes, blew out a big breath, and her hand relaxed in mine. When her eyes opened, she had a determined glint in them and – to her credit – not one tear fell. "I'm guessing she trained you. Tell me exactly where you left off."

I nodded. "She said she was mostly going to focus on defense with me because we didn't have a lot of time. I ended up figuring out some offense as well. The last exercise I did with her was staying on guard mentally while having sparring matches with some friends I made up in Other World. She attacked me while I fought them and we exchanged a lot of blows that way."

A little bit of hope sparkled in her eyes. "It sounds like you figured out some attacks up there. That's great!"

"What was your training like, Dad?"

I looked at him. "Very intense. And painful at first. To be honest, finding out the sort of training she had in mind _wasn't_ physical fights confused me at first. How would someone train without fighting? I couldn't wrap my head around that."

"I was sort of confused, too when Mom first told me about this other kind of training. I didn't know somebody could train without fighting either. Was… Grandmother strong, Dad?"

I nodded. "Very. She could do some scary things. When Cressa first told me of this evil, strong Saiyan with unusual abilities headed here, she launched one of those mental jabs at me. It wasn't just a jab, really. She took control of my entire body and I could feel myself walking around. It was like I was locked in my own mind. It was in that moment that I realized how crucial it was that I learned how to do that, too or at least be able to defend against it."

"Wow! That must have been scary."

"It definitely got my attention. She didn't keep me in her control long, thankfully. I was myself again in no time, but it did make me sort of dizzy."

"It sounds like that kind of controlling move would be really dangerous in the wrong hands. Mom and I are no where near that level." He paused and frowned a little bit. "I'm… not sure I _want_ that kind of power. The thought of it seems… unethical."

I didn't think of that. What _if_ we learned it?

I quickly dismissed the thought. After all, what would we have used that move for, anyway? There were plenty of other very effective ways to defeat an enemy.

I nodded at him. "Ya know… I don't think I want that power, either."

Gohan's frown deepened. "What if this evil Saiyan can do it? Can we still win?"

" _Can_ that Saiyan do that move, Goku?"

I felt my eyebrows pull down as I looked at Chichi. "Yes. Cressa told me that traitor can."

Her face paled. " _That's_ what we're up against!?"

I put a hand on her back. "We'll beat her, Chichi."

Gohan looked nervous, too.

I ruffled his hair. "Hey. Don't worry. We'll win."

"Do you have any idea how far away this evil Saiyan is, Goku?"

I looked at Chichi. "Yes. Right when I was revived, King Kai told me we had about a month."

Chichi nodded as her color returned to her cheeks and a determined glint shown in her eyes. "Then let's get started."

No sooner had she finished that sentence than an all too familiar pain tore through my head. My eyes slammed shut. I pushed up my defenses – the pain leaving immediately – and, working on instinct, automatically counterattacked but my attack only hit an iron hard wall.

I sensed nothing around it and no weaknesses, no matter how hard I pushed and prodded. Then, the wall lifted seemingly of its own accord and I was granted full access of the mind within I instantly recognized as my wife's – my very _nervous_ wife's.

_Well done, Goku._

I withdrew and opened my eyes, watching her a little bit worriedly. "Thanks."

"I don't think I could have gotten through your wall and your reflexes were quick. She really did teach you a lot. Did she cover telekinesis?"

I shook my head. "No. She only taught me enough that I wouldn't be a liability in the battle coming up. We only had a month before I was brought back. She said the three of us could help each other in our training and kind of learn on the fly."

She nodded. "I'll do my best to show you what I know, Goku. I'm rusty, but slowly my power and my training are coming back." She stood up. "Gohan, do you remember where you put that pile of rocks?"

_Rocks?_

"Yeah! I'll go get them." With that, he dashed off.

"I'll show you a training exercise Gohan and I have been doing."

"Sounds like fun. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Goku."

After what I sensed in her head, I didn't buy it, but I sensed Gohan coming back so I dropped it for the time being so we could focus on our training.

"I'm back, Mom!"

I turned around to see Gohan flying up to us with a large pile of rocks floating through the air behind him. I had a little experience with telekinesis, but the ease with which he moved that pile was something that could only come with loads of practice. I was amazed.

"Wow, Gohan! Neat trick! I can do a little of that, but I'm not that good at it."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks, Dad. Mom taught me."

I glanced at Chichi and she regarded our son with a warm, proud smile.

It hit me at that moment just how amazing it was that we were all going to train together. For the first time ever, we were going to train as a family. Chichi and I had sparred some when Gohan was small and more recently just before the Androids showed up. Her skills and reflexes were very sharp then. I could only guess at how much stronger she was as a Saiyan, but we couldn't spar since I returned. I wasn't too disappointed, since it was for a very good reason.

She sighed. "Don't worry, Goku. I may be pregnant, but I'm _not_ slacking off."

I jumped. "Oh. You were reading my thoughts? I didn't notice." Then I realized what I said and what that meant. "Oops…"

She lightly punched my arm. "Yeah, oops. You let your guard down. That was sloppy."

I scratched the back of my neck. "Sorry! Wont happen again!"

I decided to try to catch her off guard and mentally launched myself at her but only succeeded in hitting that same impenetrable wall as before.

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Come on. I'm sure you can do better than that."

I crossed my arms and frowned in concentration as my eyes closed. Once again, I mentally launched myself at her, throwing my full focus behind that spike. I smashed into her defenses then quickly went through them.

I heard a hiss of pain – I broke her defenses, but she wasn't defenseless. She counterattacked with even more force than I used and threw me out soon after.

I opened my eyes and smirked at her. That smirk quickly vanished as I noticed she was holding her head and had a pained grimace on her face.

"Chichi! Are you okay?"

She cracked an eye open, and surprised me with a small smile on her delicate lips. "That was… very good. You're a natural. Is there any sort of fighting technique you're _not_ good at?"

I laughed lightly. "Thanks, Babe and nope."

She cocked an eyebrow at me and crossed her arms.

Before I knew what hit me, I was sent careening into the air with the wind knocked out of me.

I quickly recovered as my mind caught up to what happened and I landed in the same spot I started. Chichi never moved. All she did was look at me. I glanced at Gohan who had a suspiciously knowing look on his face and his lips twitched like he was fighting a smile.

"Did you do that, Gohan?"

He shook his head and glanced at his mother.

I faced her. Chichi met my eyes with a small smirk playing on her lips and an eyebrow cocked.

My eyebrows found my hairline. " _You_ did that, Chichi!?"

She merely nodded, still with that smug little smirk on her lips as Gohan laughed.

I landed and dropped down on the grass in the same spot I was before and stared at her. "How…?"

"It's easy. It was just telekinesis taken to a whole new level. I'll show you. Gohan, you ready with those rocks?"

"Yeah!"

They both got up and went to stand several paces apart, as the rock pile followed Gohan through the air.

"Let 'em fly, Gohan!"

Her hands were grasped behind her back. Just how did she intend to block the rocks? I tensed and prepared to dart in as Gohan sent the first rock hurtling toward her.

I felt a spike of power and that rock sizzled, and then vaporized in midair. She had never moved a muscle. My jaw hit the ground. I had never seen anybody use _ki_ quite like that.

The next rock was sent flying toward Chichi. It flew ever closer. I began to wonder if she was going to block that one at all; I gathered power in my legs as I prepared to dart in and block the rock but it abruptly stopped and hovered inches from her face.

She calmly reached up and plucked it out of the air and bounced it in her hand. She pitched it back toward the pile and it landed neatly on top.

She shot me a look. "What? You didn't think I was going to let that hit me, did you?"

"I was beginning to wonder."

She rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back toward Gohan. "That was a nice little warm up. Send more and faster now."

He obliged by lobbing a dozen or so rocks in the span of a few seconds. These moved much faster than the single rocks he threw at her. A fingernail found its way into my mouth but – as it turned out – I had little to worry about.

Starting with the ones thrown first – the ones just another second or two from hitting her – she froze each one in the air and quickly worked her way to the last rocks thrown. By the time she was done, they were all hovering harmlessly in the air before her.

"Pretty cool, huh Dad?"

I couldn't peel my eyes away from her so I just tilted my face in Gohan's direction. "Yeah!"

Chichi looked at me – not one strand of her pretty black hair out of place in her tight bun – as she directed the rocks back to the pile. "Goku, would you join him? This is getting too easy. I need more of a challenge."

My eyebrows found my hairline. "You mean you want me to throw rocks at you with Gohan?"

"Yes."

My eyes darted to her stomach and back to her face. "Chichi… are you sure?"

A vein popped out of her forehead. "Would you just do it already? I'll be _fine_."

"Well… okay…"

I hustled over to stand next to Gohan, not wanting to further sour her… somewhat unstable mood.

"Thank you. Now throw several – as fast as you can. You too, Gohan."

Gohan and I glanced at each other. He looked as worried as I did. In fact, he looked as if he was questioning his mother's sanity at that moment. I had similar thoughts on the matter.

We each grabbed an arm full before Chichi had time to yell at us again. We lobbed the rocks at Chichi as fast as we could as ordered. They sailed closer and closer and I subconsciously shifted a foot in her direction.

Before I could make my move, each rock halted before her like the last batch Gohan threw at her – until she missed one and a gasp escaped my lips. I instinctively Instant Transmissioned to her only to see her hand extended with the rock in her grasp.

I blew out the breath I didn't realize I was holding and relief surged through me – until I saw the blood dribbling from her hand. My heart jumped into my throat.

I grabbed her wrist and she dropped the rock. "I _knew_ this was a bad idea!"

She was utterly unfazed. "Relax, Goku. It's just a little cut. It'll heal."

"But–!"

She gave me _the look_. The one where she narrowed her pretty eyes and raised an eyebrow and put her free – and uninjured – hand on her hip.

I just stared at her.

"Remember, I'm half-Saiyan. I'm going to heal much faster than I did before the Block was lifted. This cut will probably be completely gone by tomorrow. No big deal."

She had a point there.

"Well… okay. If you're sure."

Gohan walked up to us and eyed her hand worriedly. "Mom? Are you okay?"

She nodded. "It's no big deal, Gohan – just a little cut. Why don't you and your father go spar some more? I'll get a snack together in the mean time."

* * *

My boys wore identical excited grins and slid into their fighting stances.

I giggled as I walked to the edge of the clearing and watched them. Goku attacked first. He seemed to be reveling in their match. There was a certain twinkle in his eyes and a spring in his step. A small smile played at the corners of his lips, never fading, not even when Gohan landed a few solid – and no doubt painful – hits. If anything, that small smile grew wider.

His small, content smile grew to be one of pure pride as Goku picked himself up off the ground after Gohan elbowed him hard in his back. I felt my lips twitch up as I watched them. The soft breeze carried their laughter to my ears and my own grin grew wider.

If I had seen that just weeks before, I would have glared disapprovingly at Goku and insisted on keeping Gohan holed up and studying safe and sound at his desk. Instead, the sight of them sparring that day warmed my heart, and I thought to myself: _My, how things have changed._

I was encouraging them to train for a reason that made my stomach twist into uncomfortable knots. So much rode on the outcome – _far_ more than just my family's safety.

I needed a walk.

I watched them for a while longer before I decided to slip unnoticed into the trees to gather some berries and head to the giant apple tree nearby with the infamous hole straight through it.

I was sure they'd be starving after they were done sparring. Lunchtime was still a couple of hours away, but I knew my boys would need a snack. What constituted a snack in our family was usually enough to feed several people. Heck, not just feed several people, but stuff to them to the gills.

My own appetite only added to the already vast amounts of food I was well accustomed to preparing on a daily basis. I had the double-whammy of being both pregnant with a half – no, _three-quarter_ – Saiyan baby and being half-Saiyan myself. I wasn't painfully hungry yet, but that time was quick approaching.

It was a very good thing I had remembered to grab that small case of capsulized food and some apples and berries would be the perfect dessert.

I lifted my chin and sniffed the air. Finding our favorite giant apple tree was easy. All I had to do was follow my nose. The smell of apple was faint, just barely detectable above the sharp, strong smells of the evergreen trees and decaying plant matter.

I set off at a quick jog before the wind had time to shift and, a few minutes later, the tree with the largest and best apples I've ever tasted came into view. I jogged up to its trunk. Finding the tree was the easy part. Getting to the delicious, shiny red morsels above was the hard part – at least it was when I still thought I was human.

The lowest branch was still several feet above my head, but reaching those tantalizing red apples was no problem at all. I bent my legs and gathered a small amount of _ki_ in my legs for the jump.

I released the power at the same moment I pushed off hard with my feet and sailed into the air, the sensation unpleasantly pulling my stomach to my feet – a feeling I would have to get used to if I was ever going to learn how to fly. I landed gracefully on the lowest branch and plucked the closest apple to me.

I turned it around in my hand, checking its shiny red skin for any signs of worms then sunk my teeth in for a nice, big bite. It was the ideal balance between sweet and tart, its texture perfectly crisp.

I quickly finished off the apple and dropped the core to the ground below. I picked the apples closest to me, and, with as much as I could carry, dropped to the ground and landed gently without dropping a single one.

The moment I had touched down, a rustle and a faint crunch of a twig in nearby bushes to my right caught my attention, and my senses alerted me to a small pack of seven wolves stalking me. My head snapped over just in time to see two large, dark brown, snarling, fury blurs fly at me and I jumped into the air, twisting to kick the one the on the right in the side of its head, my momentum carrying my foot to the other wolf, sending both flying, my apples still in place.

The rest of the pack noisily bounded out of the brush, intent on defending their fallen comrades, gnashing their teeth and snarling at me. They circled me like a school of hungry sharks, their intense yellow eyes pinning me in place. They were hungry and thought I would be an easy target.

They had no idea how much danger they were in.

They attacked, but I saw it coming and easily levitated all seven wolves about five feet off the ground, stopping their fearsome snarling instantly. Their confusion was obvious, and a few whimpered in fright.

I pushed them closer to together because it was less taxing to move one big mass instead of seven smaller ones and shifted the brown, furry, yipping mass a safe distance away before unceremoniously dropping them on the forest floor.

I watched them disentangle themselves from their confused ball and run away in a panic before I swung my foot forward to walk back to where the boys were and promptly bumped into a very solid orange and blue wall that hadn't been there a second before – my apples dropping to the ground and rolling every which way.

I stomped one foot and put my left hand on my hip and my right arm raised, my pointer finger jammed in his back as a wave of irritation engulfed me and my eyes narrowed. "Dang it, Son Goku! Look what you–"

I didn't get to finish the thought before the orange wall whirled on the spot and firm but gentle hands grabbed my shoulders as a pair of very frantic eyes scanned up and down my body.

"Oh, _honestly_! I had everything under control. The wolves are gone. Once again, I'm pregnant but _not_ defenseless and now our snacks are all bruised up!"

He scanned my body one more time before finally seeming to accept what I told him as he dropped his hands. "Sorry, Chi. I sensed you out here by yourself and then sensed the wolves stalking you and I…"

He trailed off and I sighed. "I _am_ half-Saiyan, ya know."

"Are you okay, Mom?"

I sighed again. "Just fine, Gohan."

And then promptly shot a glare at my husband. "Well, now the two of you can help me pick more apples."

* * *

We did.

As Gohan and I picked armfuls of fresh apples, Chichi started clicking and tossing capsules in the shade of the large apple tree, revealing a large blanket and several platters full of her amazing cooking. Gohan and I landed, our arms full with the shiny, bright red morsels.

In a few minutes, the entire insanely delicious spread was wiped out. Nothing beat Chichi's home cooking. As much food as there was, this wasn't anywhere near enough to stuff us. It was just enough to be a nice snack to hold us off until lunchtime.

I rubbed my stomach. "That was great, Chichi!"

"Thanks, Mom!"

"You're both welcome. Now, let's get back to work."

After capsulizing our stuff, the three of us took turns practicing Mind Manipulation on each other, but not for much longer. With the capsule case's food being almost wiped out for the day, we cut our training a little short and headed home for dinner.

During the short flight home, Chichi poked me in the shoulder. "I think I'm going to have to remember to pack extra food now that you're home."

I chuckled.

We landed in our front yard and walked into our house and – not ten minutes later – the doorbell rang.

I extended my senses to see who it was and smiled at Chichi. "Your dad's here!"

Chichi stared at me with a dear in headlights look for just a second before taking control of the situation. She looked pointedly at me and jerked her head toward the stairs and mouthed: 'Bedroom! Now!'

That confused me. I raised an eyebrow at her but she only gave me _the look._ If I didn't hustle, I knew I'd be in trouble, so I hustled to the stairwell and floated quickly up the stairs. Once in our bedroom, I closed the door silently behind me just as I heard the creak of the front door opening.

"Hi, Papa! What brings you to our neck of the woods?"

I could hear the Ox King's booming voice loud and clear even with our bedroom door closed. "Oh, just wanted to drop by and visit my daughter and my soon to be two grandchildren! How are things?"

Chichi's obvious nervousness rolled off of her in waves, reaching me easily even up the stairs and through a closed door, her tone slightly louder and higher-pitched than normal. "Just fine. Keeping busy."

 _Why is she so nervous?_ was my thought to myself as I listened to the somewhat muffled conversation.

"And how's studying going, Gohan?"

"It's great, Grandpa!"

A seemingly awkward silence stretched between them for a minute before I sensed Ox King head back toward the door.

"I can see I'm interrupting. I'll get going. Just wanted to–"

"No, not at all! Why don't you stay for dinner, Papa?"

"Yeah, Grandpa!"

His tone was slightly off but he agreed anyway; he knew something was up. "Well… alright."

They fell into an awkward silence again. My curiosity got the best of me. _What's going on, Chichi?_

 _Goku… my father has the Block on him and doesn't know about my power. Plus, he doesn't know_ you _are right upstairs. As far as he's aware, you're still… still…_

It dawned on me. _Oh… right. He thinks I'm still dead._

She didn't want to give the poor guy a heart attack springing two huge pieces of news on him.

_At least he already knows you're pregnant._

_Yes, I told him when I found out just a couple weeks after Cell._

_Well, that's one less thing to worry about telling him._

_I'm… not sure we_ should _tell him anything about my power. At least not yet. I can't hide it around him forever, but I can't help but think we should wait until after confronting that Saiyan._

_You do what you think is best and I'll go along with it. If you want me to stay hidden up here, then I will._

_Thanks, Goku._

A new idea occurred to me. _Gohan?_

_Yeah, Daddy?_

_Your mother doesn't want Ox King to know about her power or me yet. Think you can help keep those two things a secret just for now?_

_Sure, Dad._

_Thanks, Buddy._

Eventually, the three of them relaxed into light chatter as Chichi moved into the kitchen. The occasional clang of a pot or pan floated up stairs.

It wasn't long before the wonderful smells of my wife's cooking filled the house. I was suddenly very jealous I couldn't join them right then. My stomach picked that moment to voice its jealousy by unleashing a massive roar, louder even than Gohan's that had – by some random stroke of luck – growled at the same time as mine.

_Goku!_

"It sounds like a lion is upstairs. If I didn't know any better, I could swear that sounded just like–"

I was saved by Gohan's quick thinking. "It was just my stomach, Grandpa! Nothing to worry about!"

Ox King laughed. "You must be getting ready for a growth-spurt, Kiddo!"

Gohan said something I didn't quite catch, but just from skimming his emotions, I knew he'd have a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks.

_You need to leave or that stomach of yours is going to blow your cover!_

I sighed. _Okay, Chichi. I'll leave for a few hours and go fishing or something._

I pouted slightly, knowing I was going to miss the wonderful meal she had planned.

My stomach roared again and that time, there was no other noise to cover it.

_GOKU! GET GOING!_

I winced and rubbed my temples to ward off the instant headache. I found out getting yelled at in my head was way, way, way worse than listening to it.

"What's going on, Chichi? There's something huge you're not telling me."

By Ox King's firm tone, I knew he expected an answer. He was usually a very cheerful guy. Huge but wouldn't hurt a fly – at least not since Chichi was born if the stories the villagers told me were anything to go by. That tone was one I had only heard out of him once – maybe twice – before.

I could practically feel Chichi squirming under his scrutiny, her discomfort flowing across the telepathic link between us.

_Chichi… I think it's best we just tell him – even if only about me._

She sighed. _I guess you're right._

"Okay… You win. Yes, Papa. That roar was exactly what you thought it was."

A crash shortly followed by his loud yell echoed around the house. "GOKU'S REALLY BACK!?"

I chose that moment to slip out of the bedroom and down the stairs to see Ox King and Gohan standing over our overturned kitchen table, both of their chairs on their sides behind them and Chichi chopping vegetables at the counter.

I grinned at Ox King. "Yep! I'm back!"

He pulled me in for a Saiyan-bone-crushing bear hug. "GOKU, MY BOY! WELCOME BACK! IT'S WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU!"

My back popped and breathing was getting hard, but I managed to wheeze, "It's great to see you, too."

He released me and the first thing my grateful lungs did was suck in a big breath.

Chichi giggled, walked up, and leaned on me. I put an arm around her shoulders.

"Isn't it wonderful, Papa? Goku's home and Gohan's going to be a big brother before too long."

I glanced down to see her rest a hand briefly on her flat-for-the-time-being stomach and pulled her a little closer.

Ox King smiled down at Gohan. "So, looking forward to being a big brother, Kiddo?"

Gohan nodded vigorously, his smile so big his eyes were closed.

Chichi and I exchanged our own bright smiles.

Ox King righted our table, Gohan picked up the chairs and Ox King, Gohan, and I sat down while Chichi went back to chopping vegetables. There wasn't anything on the table, so there wasn't any mess to clean up. Chichi would have been mad if there was. I was thankful for that because I didn't think my ears – or my head – could take anymore.

"When did you come back, Goku?"

"Just yesterday."

"I'm thrilled to see you, but Gohan said you didn't want to be brought back because of all those powerful bad-guys after you. Why the change of heart?"

_Tell him the truth, Goku. Just… maybe not all of it…_

_You sure? Should I mention your mother, too?_

_Yes. Just… be gentle… okay? We'll tell him the rest later._

_Okay._

"Well… it's kind of a long story."

He nodded, his eager expression urging me to go on.

"I met someone in Other World. This might come as a bit of a shock to you but… I met Chichi's mother and she's the reason I had to come back."

His jaw dropped to the ground and his eyes bulged, the only sound was the rhythmic tapping of Chichi's knife as she sliced and chopped vegetables and meat for dinner. After a few moments, he recovered and leaned in toward me.

When he finally spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically soft, almost choked. "You met… my…"

He stared into my eyes and I nodded slowly, hoping he wasn't going to explode into a flurry of questions that none of us were prepared to answer.

"Did she… say anything? About me?"

I breathed a small, unnoticeable sigh of relief, glad he wasn't asking about _exactly_ why I was back. He latched onto the mention of Cressa and asked a question I definitely couldanswer.

"Yeah… actually she did. She told me things to tell all of you." I turned to Chichi in the kitchen. "Chichi, you should come in here, too."

Chichi joined us at the table and watched me. "What did she say, Goku?"

"Well, she wanted me to tell you, Chichi, that she loves you and she misses you and that she's extremely proud of the woman you have become."

Her eyes immediately filled with tears, but she had a small, sad smile on her face. I reached over and rubbed her back for a minute.

After comforting Chichi, I turned to face Gohan. "She wanted me to tell you that someday, when the time is right, you'll meet face to face but hopefully not for a very long time."

He nodded, smiling up at me. I ruffled his hair.

Finally, I turned to face Ox King, who had been watching us intently. "She loves you and misses you so much and she will see you again someday, but hopefully not too soon."

His eyes – like Chichi's – immediately filled with tears and he couldn't quite stop the small choked sob that escaped his lips. Chichi immediately got up and wrapped her arms around her father's neck and kissed his cheek. I could see the tremor in her shoulders and her battle to fight back her own sobs.

"She said she'll be watching over all of us and that she loves us very much."

That did it. She broke and hugged her father tighter and he turned and wrapped his arms around his daughter. Gohan watched them hug – sad but not tearful.

After a couple of minutes, I got up and rubbed Chichi's back. She turned and dove into my arms, bawling her eyes out, her shoulders heaving. I held her close as I continued to rub her back.

Eventually, she pulled away and wiped her tears. She silently turned and walked back into the kitchen to resume her chopping. The taps were slower and not as rhythmic and there was an uncharacteristic shakiness in her normally expertly smooth and quick strokes.

Ox King stared at me, his cheeks as tear stained as Chichi's. "Goku… Thank you. I can't begin to tell you what that means to me."

I put a hand on his shoulder and he reached up and grabbed my hand. "Of course!"

Ox King was quiet and with a faraway look in his eyes for quite a while after that.

_Are we going to tell Grandpa about Mom's powers after all, Dad?_

_I'm not sure yet._

I brushed Chichi's mind while maintaining my link with Gohan. _What do you think, Chichi?_

_I think two huge pieces of news are enough for one day. He's got enough to think about right now. I think I want to wait until after this… battle coming up. Did you hear that, Gohan? We're still keeping my power a secret, but just for now._

_Okay, Mom._

There was a pause in Chichi's chopping and she turned to give me a slightly horrified look. _Shoot! That means I'll have to control how much I eat…_

I just barely managed to bite back my laugh.

 _As soon as he's gone, you can dig in._ I paused for a second and then continued, _Come to think of it, eat. Maybe don't go all out, but remember, your dad knows you're pregnant and I'm sure he remembers how much you ate with Gohan._

_Have I ever told you how much I love you?_

I smirked at her and winked and nobody but her ever saw. _I could stand to hear it a little more._

She just rolled her eyes.

As we were talking, she placed the first few dishes full of food on the table and all the Saiyan stomachs in the room rumbled, hers included.

The noise snapped the Ox King out of his silence and his loud, booming laugh filled our house. "Well, you're certainly eating for two, aren't you, Chichi?"

Her cheeks went a little bit pink. "I guess I am."

I sent her my 'I told you so' smile.

She wrinkled her nose at me and raised an eyebrow.

My grin widened.

She turned her back on me, but not before I saw her cheeks pull up in her own grin.

She carried more platters to the table and soon, everything was set out and we tucked into the giant spread in front of us. There was so much food out – more than she usually prepared – but the Ox King never batted an eye. A full-blooded Saiyan, a half-Saiyan, a… well… _more_ than half-Saiyan, and a human man that ate like a Saiyan guaranteed there would be no leftovers.

After dinner, we settled into relaxed chatter until Ox King yawned and decided it was a good time to go home and Gohan went to bed soon after.

I helped Chichi finish up the kitchen, occasionally hugging her and kissing her from behind as we worked and once that was done, we headed up to our room.

I watched her silently go through her bedtime routine of brushing her hair and changing into a nightgown, small sighs slipping out of her lips as she went through her routine before she joined me in bed. She put her head on my chest and curled up into me as I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight.

I didn't need my Saiyan telepathy to feel the sadness pouring out of her. Her warm tears dribbled onto my chest and rolled down my skin. I rubbed her back.

I frowned slightly as I comforted her. The truth was, there was something I had kept hidden from Chichi – even through all those times she had been in my head during our training. It was something Cressa had asked me to tell Chichi. I wasn't sure how to bring it up but her finding out just by being in my head just… didn't exactly seem like the right way to do that.

It was something I promised to explain to her but I figured any time I chose to tell her would be hard for her to hear. I figured I might as well get it over with.

"Right before we started our training today, I promised I'd explain to you exactly what happened to your mother."

She gasped and immediately sat up to stare at me. I knew by her expression she was scared to hear the explanation but I also knew she _needed_ it.

I sat up, too and was quiet for a moment, thinking through that memory she shared with me my first night back. "When your father had you in his arms and your mother left you both, she had gone to hold off the traitors so you and your father would have time to get away. Cressa was mortally wounded in that fight and used the last of her power to self-destruct – severely wounding one of the traitors and killing the other. That was the last and biggest explosion you and your father felt as you ran away. When she gave her life, she not only bought you time, but managed to drive that traitor away. She saved you and your father."

Chichi stared at me as I explained, her jaw hanging slack and when I was finished, she buried her face in her hands and wept and I pulled her onto my lap. She wept into my chest while I rubbed her back and held her tightly against me.

After what must have been a couple of hours, her sobs gradually stopped and she blew out a breath and pulled back. "I'm never going to get to sleep. Will you go for a walk with me?"

I smiled at her. "I'd love to, Honey."

A moonlit walk in the crisp forest air sounded wonderful to me so we did, taking one of our favorite paths through the woods to a nearby clearing and decided to sit down together.

We talked, cuddled, and kissed under the moonlight and eventually she fell deeply asleep in my arms. The moon had moved quite a bit in the sky while we were out so I knew no short amount of time had passed when I walked into our house and straight up to bed with her curled up and sound asleep in my arms. Once I had her settled, I was out cold soon after.


	5. Training and Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saiyans need copious amounts of both to survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten! I swear lol. Just busy with life and lots and lots of unplanned errands and things breaking around the house (including a dish my daughter dropped and shattered and cleaning that up took a while).

**Chapter 5:** _  
_

**Training and Food**

_The Next Day_

After breakfast was over my second morning back, we went out to our little clearing to train. I was getting twitchy and, before long, I was too twitchy to focus. My saiyan blood was aching for a real fight, a fight where I didn't have to hold back. I knew we weren't just sitting around, and mind manipulation was challenging in its own right, but there was just something about exchanging and blocking physical blows and energy blasts. It gave me a high like little else could.

I needed to let loose.

Chichi sat in the lotus position in front of me in the shade at the edge of the clearing where we had been most of the morning. I was supposed to be working on tearing down her mental defenses and incapacitating her – not to mention defending against her harsh onslaughts.

As time wore on, I grew more and more unfocused – distracted enough I had let my guard down several times.

I yelped in pain when a particularly sharp jab shoved into my mind.

"Hmmph. Serves you right. Now _focus_ , Goku!"

I tried to, but the sounds and small explosions on the other side of the clearing were making concentrating on training with Chichi very difficult.

Cracking an eye open, I looked at Chichi to see her eyes closed – but not attacking –and saw that was my chance. My head snapped around the second I sensed a sharp spike of power and a yell from Gohan on the other end of the clearing.

He fired small blasts into empty air and launched a barrage of kicks, punches, and jabs at an imaginary opponent, gracefully and skillfully flowing from one technique to the next, his form perfect.

Fingers snapped in my face and I quickly looked at Chichi. I was lucky she didn't try to attack me. I didn't think my head could take much more.

She sighed. "You just wont focus on this until you get that battle-lust out of your system, will you?"

"Heh. No…"

She rolled her eyes at me, called Gohan over, and stood up. I was immediately hopeful I was going to get my chance.

Gohan flew over to where we stood. "What's up, Mom?"

She shot me a look with her pretty eyes narrowed and looked back at Gohan. "We are going to go somewhere else to train the rest of the day. Your father wants to fight you."

I jumped up into the air. I was going to get the battle – not to mention the adrenaline rush – my saiyan blood craved.

I knew exactly where I wanted to go.

I scooped up Chichi and Gohan and I shot high into the sky. I glanced at Gohan and pulled ahead. He looked at me curiously. I just sent him an excited smile as I passed him.

We flew on for a couple of hours, passing over inviting, blue lakes and rivers – including one particularly clear and large lake that looked perfect for swimming – deep canyons and rolling hills.

We flew over vibrant, wild greenery, a huge checkerboard of farmland in various stages of growth, small towns, and two big cities. It was beautiful scenery. I hadn't noticed just how pretty it was the last time I flew over that area. My mind was too focused on the upcoming battle.

We were going to the spot where I lost my life to train. It seemed right to claim it as our training grounds. I didn't think anything remained of the arena Cell made, but if there was anything left of it, it wouldn't be there for long.

It was the ideal spot to let loose, without worrying about houses or anything nearby. I couldn't wait to get started. I couldn't wait to feel that adrenaline rush course through my veins.

As we flew, my mind wandered, eventually settling on Cressa's tribe. That quick sweep of _ki_ sensing as soon as I arrived on Earth didn't turn up any unfamiliar powers, but I knew the remaining tribe members – and their descendants – were around somewhere. That my _wife_ of all people was a part of them, too…

I stared down at her in wonder. She looked relaxed and content in my arms as she watched the ever-changing scenery below us.

She caught my gaze. "What're you thinking about, Goku?"

"Your mother's tribe. Think we'll ever meet them, Chichi?"

"I don't know, Goku. They may not want to be found – if any of them even broke through the Block at all. With what they went through, I don't blame them."

I sighed and felt a little sad as I looked ahead.

She touched my cheek lightly, and I looked down to see a comforting smile on her pretty face. "Maybe we can look for them after we've defeated the traitor. Just… don't get your hopes up too high, okay?"

I nodded and held her close.

After flying another half an hour or so, I sensed nervousness coming from a familiar mind. I glanced back at Gohan, to see his face slightly pale. I doubled back and flew in close to him. "What's up, Gohan?"

"Dad, this is where… we fought Cell."

I didn't miss the slight shudder as he said that and Chichi didn't either, judging by the gasp that slipped out of her lips, and her quiet, concerned, "Gohan…"

I smiled my most reassuring smile to the both of them. "It's okay. Don't be scared."

Chichi craned her neck over to get a good look. "This is really the place…?"

Spotting a decent place to land, I slowed and started dropping as her grip around my neck tightened. "Yeah. It is, but there's nothing to be scared of. Cell's long gone. It just… feels right to claim this as our new training grounds."

We touched down on the hard, rocky ground, pebbles crunching under our boots.

I placed Chichi on her feet and started to clear out a large enough spot for all of us. I found a few small, white fragments of the fighting ring Cell made and blasted them into oblivion and Gohan did the same.

That felt good.

That finished, I flashed Gohan an excited grin and took my stance as Chichi walked a safe distance away.

Gohan settled into his stance several paces apart from me and we sized each other up for a short while with confident smirks on our faces, my heart beginning to pound with excitement.

We kicked a few inches off the ground and lunged for each other.

Gohan set himself up for a right hook, which I effortlessly deflected with a sweep of my left forearm while I countered with my right fist aimed for his stomach. He easily blocked it, checking my right arm with his left.

Round one a quick stalemate, we broke apart for a moment, circling each other several feet off the ground and once again, lunged toward each other. I decided to test Gohan's reaction time and Instant Transmissioned myself behind, with an elbow raised and aimed for his back and brought it down with a lot of power behind it – and then promptly had the wind knocked out of _me_ as I felt a fist collide hard with my stomach and he whirled up and _his_ elbow connected with the base of my neck.

He was so fast, I didn't even see him turn around until after the fact – and we hadn't even gone Super Saiyan yet! I managed to land on my feet and clutched my stomach for a moment, waiting a few painful seconds for my ability to breathe to return.

Gohan touched down in front of me. His arms were crossed, his smile playful and confident. "Give up, Dad?"

I looked up and mirrored his smile. "Never!"

We blasted up into the air and darted toward each other as we exchanged a flurry of kicks and jabs when I smirked and unleashed my power, the energy coming from deep within and tearing out through me. I felt Gohan's power skyrocket as he did the same and his eyes turned teal and his hair went brilliant gold as his power crackled around him.

From then on, our match became the fight my saiyan blood craved.

We traded another high-speed, high-powered blitz of blows, every punch and kick either blocked or finding its target – creating small shockwaves and flashes of brilliant yellow as our energy clashed, static electricity crackling through the air.

We urged ourselves ever faster – long since leaving the tracking ability of the human eye in our dust.

In a lull in our match, I looked down at Chichi. She was on her feet and fidgeting with her clothes, her eyes wide and her jaw hanging open. I allowed myself a self-satisfied smirk, as I lifted my gaze back to Gohan, eager to show off some more for the lady.

Then my brain caught up with exactly what that meant. It was my turn for my eyes to go wide. I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised. She _was_ half-saiyan, after all.

I shouted down to her, "Chichi!? Were you able to follow all of our blows!?"

Her shocked expression faded as she processed my question. She nodded and it was her turn to smile a small proud smile, but the awe in her expression never quite went away. "That was amazing to watch! You two keep it up. I've been sitting around too long. I'm going to meditate."

I nodded in her direction and looked back at Gohan. "Ready, kiddo?"

He took his ready stance in the air in front of me. "Bring it on, Dad!"

Yet again, we lunged at each other and exchange many more blows, each one stronger and faster than the last. We continued on for quite a while, neither of us missing a beat when a large amount of movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention a ways out and a little lower down than we were.

I saw the giant boulder hovering thirty feet in the air first. I stared at it, confused. How the heck was a rock flying by itself? Then, my eyes snagged on the beautiful creature perched neatly on top: Chichi.

Her long hair was released from its tight bun she usually kept it in, billowing wildly in the warm breeze. Her eyes were closed, her face completely relaxed. The wind shifted, sweeping her long hair toward me. I caught her indefinable, sweet smell in the light breeze, her –

A fist collided with my cheek and snapped me out of it.

"Come on, Dad! Get with the program!"

I blinked and promptly felt a little heat rush to my cheeks. "Whoops. Sorry, Gohan."

He just raised an eyebrow before we got back into our match and I was forced to put my head back in the game.

We traded a lot more blows, receiving and giving many more bruises. It had only been a few months since the battle with Cell – a few months since we finished our intense training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber – but I missed training with Gohan while I was dead. It was great to get back into it with him.

After blocking a particularly high-powered kick with my forearm – the mighty smack echoing through the rocky wasteland – I flew backwards a short distance and held my hands up as I powered down. "That's enough for now, Gohan! You certainly kept me on my toes. Well done!"

His eyes lit up and he smiled a grin that Chichi always said looked a lot like mine as his eyes and hair went back to black. "Thanks, Dad!"

I finally got my itch for a good fight out of my system, my body covered in bruises but my spirit soaring.

I gestured at the ground. "Go rest for a little bit, Gohan. I'm going to go check on your mom."

"'K!"

He dropped out of the sky as I flew to the still hovering massive boulder with my wife perched cross-legged on top. I took a moment to admire the sight without having to worry about blocking any blows.

Closer up, I noticed a faint glow surrounded her and the boulder, and sensed she was using her _ki_ to keep it and – by extension – herself in the air. Her eyes were shut, but not tightly. Her face was as relaxed as if she were sleeping– as if keeping that massive boulder in the air was no big deal at all. Her long hair still whipped about her face.

I flew closer.

I reached out, intending to pull her beautiful dark hair back and out of her face for her. As beautiful as she was with it billowing wildly around her like that, it had to be annoying.

When my fingers came into contact with her hair and – a second later – her cheek as I brushed her hair aside, she yelped, the soft glow of her energy faded, and the boulder dropped out of the sky with her on it.

I snatched her up safely in my arms before she could fall more than a foot or two. Quickly after, we heard the loud crash of the boulder pulverizing itself on the ground while I held Chichi in the air above.

She slapped my chest. "Goku! Don't sneak up on me like that while I'm meditating!"

"Sorry, Chi."

She just rolled her eyes. "You really do need to get around to giving me those flying lessons."

"Hmm. How about now?"

Her eyes lit up and she nodded. "Well… Okay."

I landed with her and set her down on her feet.

"You'll get this in no time since you already know how to control and use your energy. Just concentrate on pushing the energy down and you'll feel yourself get kind of light. Give it a try."

"Okay."

She closed her eyes. I began to feel her energy build and fluctuate throughout her body.

"That's it! You're doing it! Now push it down."

Her energy continued building to a level much higher than she needed.

My hand subconsciously twitched toward her. "Careful, Chichi! Don't use too much or you'll–!"

Too late.

In the same second I felt her push her power down, she shot up really high, really fast with a loud, terrified screech.

I kicked off the ground after her, caught up quickly just as she instinctively cut off her power, and wrapped my arms around her as she locked hers around my neck and her legs around my waist – very tightly.

She buried her face in the crook of my neck, her body tense. I felt her heart pounding in her chest – her breathing fast and hard. Her breath from her scared little whimpers tickled my neck.

I brushed her mind as I soothingly rubbed her back and her terror surged into me through our link. I had to clamp down on my automatic response to it to keep my own heart from galloping out of my chest.

I spoke both into her mind and aloud: " _Shh… It's okay, Honey. I've got ya_."

After several moments, her body began to relax as her heart gradually slowed to its normal rhythm, along with her breathing.

Her grip on me loosened just a little – which was good because that strong grip of hers was actually starting to hurt – as she pulled her head out of my shoulder. Her eyes darted around nervously. When her gaze dropped to the ground below, she turned a little pale and her heart sped up a bit.

I removed one arm from around her waist and rested my hand on her cheek to pull her gaze to mine as I gave her a small, reassuring, smile. "You're perfectly safe, Babe. I have you." I glanced at her arms and legs still tightly wrapped around me and laughed lightly. "Erm… actually, I guess you have me."

That worked.

Her face relaxed and her color returned. That even got a small giggle out of her – not to mention a very cute blush.

She unwound her legs from my waist but kept her arms firmly wrapped around my neck, supporting her weight. "I… guess I put a little too much power into it, didn't I? I want to try again."

I began to sense her summoning her energy again – a much smaller amount than the first time – as she slowly unwound her arms from my neck. I reached up and took her hand firmly in mine just in case. She released my neck completely and hung by her hand. She knew I wouldn't drop her. Her eyes were closed again in concentration.

I felt her push that small amount of energy down. "Yeah! That's exactly right! You're doing it!"

She always was a featherweight to me – if I even noticed her weight at all – but I was finely tuned enough to her that I knew the exact moment when I no longer supported her.

"Chichi! You're floating! Open your eyes!"

She did and gasped and – for a second – I was afraid she was going to panic again. She didn't. Instead, her eyes lit up and her mouth split wide open into the biggest, brightest grin I had almost ever seen her wear and aimed straight at me.

Butterflies danced in me.

She dropped my hand and I hovered a little closer, ready to catch her should she fall but there was no need. She was in perfect control. She zoomed away, squealing her joy, her long, dark hair snapping and whipping about in the wind. She flew fast laps around me, her joyful giggles echoing around the rocky, uneven terrain.

In addition to doing laps, she flew wild loops, and twists. She seemed to be testing how fast she could switch direction in the air – which was impressively fast – her giggles never ending.

Vegeta told me flying came naturally to saiyans, but it still took me a day or two to master it. Chichi had it mastered in _seconds_!

"Looking great, Babe! You're a natural!"

Before I knew it, her smiling face was inches from mine and she came in for a kiss then zoomed away again, giggling madly.

Those butterflies returned tenfold and I couldn't help but chuckle with her.

"Dad!"

I turned to see a slightly frantic Gohan approach.

"I sensed Mom's power flare. Where is she? Is she okay?"

I twitched my head to get Gohan to turn around. "She's just fine, Gohan."

He did turn around and just as he did, Chichi flew up to us.

"Hey, Gohan!"

Gohan's eyes got wide and his jaw dropped. "Mom! You're flying!"

"Yes, I am! Your father just taught me."

He grinned. "Pretty fun, huh Mom?"

She twirled in the air. "It's _wonderful_! I feel so light and free! Why didn't I try this before?"

I felt my lips tug up in a small smile. "You never asked."

That was true, but it was more like I never had the chance to teach her. I was always gone or dead or too busy training for or fighting in the next battle while she stayed home waiting for Gohan and me to come back to her in one piece. For the first time ever, she joined us in intense, serious training. For the first time ever, _she_ would join us on the battlefield.

I was somewhere torn between loving the fact that she was training with us and _hating_ what it meant. Her life would be on the line just as much as mine, or even Gohan's. I was used to fighting not having to worry about her being right there. I was used to fighting knowing she was safe at home – or as safe as she could be with the _whole planet_ threatened by some power-hungry, super-strong bad guy. She wasn't directly involved with the battles, then. In less than a month, she was going to be on the frontlines with Gohan and me.

That thought scared me a little bit.

She may have been half-saiyan and very strong, but she was still my wife and still the reason I fought in all of those battles.

For the time being, I very much enjoyed our training. I loved every second of the three of us being together. I haven't seen much of her power yet aside from her training my mind, but power was there. I sensed it. She was strong, very strong. As much as I was dying to find out just how much power she possessed, there was one very good reason we weren't sparring.

There was another little power emanating from her growing stronger every day. Our child would be very strong, too.

Our child.

She was pregnant and facing her first big battle. I wanted to give her one last child to hold onto because I wasn't planning on being brought back to life. I wanted to give her a new baby to help her heal. The baby was just one more innocent life that depended on us to win. At least we were together again, even if it was for a battle. I was very, very thankful I was brought back to be there to protect my growing family.

 _We will_ not _lose._

I still couldn't quite stop worry from snaking its way into me and I felt a little sweat bead on my forehead, and my insides twist into knots.

"Goku?"

Her concerned tone jerked me from my thoughts. I hid the unpleasant nervousness twisting through me and gave her a relaxed smile. It was the smile that I used to keep my family and friends around me relaxed and happy. I knew if I showed them my nervousness, they'd panic. I had to be calm for them.

"Yeah, Chichi?"

She gave me a sort of suspicious look. "Are you okay? You looked… a little bit troubled for a moment there."

I forced my face to brighten. "Just fine! The heat is just getting to me a little bit. That's all."

She didn't quite look like she bought that, and was about to say something when Gohan said, "The heat is getting to me, too. We flew over lots of nice looking rivers and lakes to get here. There was one especially clear lake I saw as we went by. Can we go swimming?"

Chichi's eyes crinkled. "Sure, Gohan!"

"Yay!"

"Last one there's a rotten egg!"

I laughed and rocketed off – until I realized who said it. That made my jaw drop and froze me in my tracks. Gohan and I exchanged looks, his jaw hanging open, too.

I felt the corners of my lips tug up into a huge grin as Gohan's whole face lit up. A second later, we were out of there.

Gohan surged ahead of me, but Chichi was nowhere to be seen. I reached out with my senses and found her far ahead. It briefly crossed my mind to catch up with Instant Transmission, but I realized that wouldn't be fair. Gohan was fast and apparently so was Chichi – but certainly not the speed of light so I dismissed the idea.

There wassomething else I could do that _would_ still be somewhere in the realm of fair.

I smirked at the tiny speck that was Gohan – already way ahead of me – and summoned my power. My power crackled through my body and surged through my veins, heat washing through me. I held it in for a moment, enjoying the sensation then pushed it out and watched as my aura went from translucent white to brilliant yellow.

It immediately had the effect I wanted, propelling me forward so fast that seconds later, I was catching up to and overtaking Gohan.

"Dad! No fair!"

"Just transform, Silly."

I didn't need to look to know he was doing just that. My senses alerted me to my boy summoning his power just behind me.

In seconds, he overtook me.

I pushed myself forward fast as possible, my aura so strong it shielded me from the insane wind I knew I was making. I knew I was going to get my butt kicked, but I had to try.

Giving up was not in my vocabulary.

Transformed as we were, we did manage to finally catch up to Chichi. She had quite the head start on us because Gohan and I were too busy being shocked to race after her right away.

She glanced over her shoulder at us and her eyes widened slightly. She kicked in another burst of speed, but could never hope to outrun – let alone keep up with – a pair of Super Saiyans.

I caught up to her and backed my power down so I flew level with her and Gohan blew past us like we were standing still.

Chichi stuck her tongue out at me and turned her pretty nose up.

I laughed. "Aw, come on, Chi. Don't be a sore loser."

She pouted slightly but didn't respond.

I grabbed her hand. She glanced at me questioningly.

"You want to know what _real_ speed feels like?"

She nodded slowly.

I pulled her in close so her back was pressed against my chest and wrapped my arms securely around her waist.

I kicked up my power and we were off, rocketing forward at a speed I knew she had never even dreamed of, the ground a mottled green blur below us.

Chichi gasped and laughed as she stretched her arms out to her sides.

Finally, the crystal clear lake we had noticed came into view.

We touched down gently on the shore and released her.

"That was _amazing_ , Goku!"

I grinned at her. "Somehow, that kind of flight never gets old."

I heard a tapping noise and looked at Gohan who had his arms crossed and was tapping his toe on the ground impatiently, but smiling a smug little grin. "Took you long enough."

I laughed. "Sorry, Gohan."

I knew I would get my butt kicked. My boy was so fast!

A soft click caught my attention and I looked just in time to see a small puff of smoke appear a few feet away. A medium sized duffle bag appeared when the smoke cleared and Chichi immediately began to dig through it.

Chichi threw our swimming trunks at Gohan and me and pulled out a swimsuit for herself and set our towels out. Gohan and I wasted no time in stripping down and pulling our trunks on and diving into the perfectly cool, clear water. The temperature was just right; it was cool enough to be refreshing but not so cold that it made us shiver. Diving in felt wonderful on that hot day.

I dove deeper, watching the fish swim by.

While deep under the water, my sensitive ears picked up a muffled splash. I looked up to see Chichi torpedoing toward me through the water in a black one-piece swimsuit, her hair in a long braid being swept by the water down her back.

She gracefully pulled up several feet above me and rocketed back up toward the surface. I kicked my legs and chased after her. Gohan was already at the surface, floating on his back a serene look on his face.

I swam next to him and copied him, enjoying the gentle rocking of the water, my fingers laced behind my head. I glanced to my other side, expecting to see Chichi basking at the calm surface with us, but she was nowhere to be found.

I automatically extended my senses and located her somewhere below us. I tried to send her a questioning thought, but only ran into a wall.

"Dad? I just realized I haven't seen Mom yet. Is she okay?"

"She's fine, Gohan. I can sense her, but – for whatever reason – she's blocking my mind."

Before I could make up my mind whether to drop below the surface to check on her, the sound of flowing water – like the trickle of a small stream – and a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.

Just as I turned my head toward the flicker of movement, a giant fish rose out of the water just off to Gohan's other side, its mouth agape, sharp teeth glistening in the sunlight.

It was aiming for us.

I felt my eyes go wide.

It crashed into us, the force pushing us under. There was something odd about it. Instead of a solid weight of fish slamming into us, it was… water. It was made out of water. Gohan and I popped back up, spluttering a little bit and I looked at him.

"Call me crazy but I think…"

Gohan looked at me, too. "…That fish was made out of water?"

I nodded slowly.

"How the heck is that possible?"

I shook my head and shrugged. "No idea, Gohan. No idea."

"What's with you two? You look like you've seen a ghost."

We both turned in the water to face Chichi – who had apparently popped up somewhere just behind us while we were busy being attacked by the weird water-fish.

She had an innocent look on her face.

My eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

Her lips twitched just a tiny bit.

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow.

"That was _you_ wasn't it, Mom!?"

I glanced at Gohan and he looked very incredulous but also somewhat amazed.

The corners of Chichi's lips twitched a bit more and I could see she was losing the battle against her smile.

Her shoulders shook with a laugh she was fighting hard to keep inside.

I had seen enough.

I used my _ki_ to quickly propel myself the few feet through the water to her, my arms outstretched and ready to grab her and exact my revenge – whatever that might be as I hadn't yet decided. "You're _mine_!"

She windmilled her arms for a backstroke the same second she finally lost the battle with her laugh. A small snort slipped out of her lips immediately followed by a loud and hearty guffaw, waggling a finger at us.

"The _looks_ on your faces! I wish a I had a camera!" She laughed so hard she could barely get the words out.

Gohan splashed her lightly and she spluttered and rubbed the water off her face, distracting her just enough for me to approach unnoticed. My arms outstretched and inches from her, I smirked. I almost had her.

She finally noticed me coming and dove down just as my arms swept through empty air.

I snarled and then took a breath.

_You better watch out, Chiich! I'm coming for you!_

A thought laced with smug self-confidence was her reply. _Good luck, Son Goku. You'll_ never _find me._

_Says you!_

I pushed my senses out. I couldn't sense her anywhere – let alone hear any thought. The only life I _could_ sense were animals. Under the water like we were, I couldn't just use my nose either.

Clever of her.

_Dad! I just saw bubbles several feet to my left._

_I'm coming up._

I kicked back to the surface and toward Gohan. "Where were those bubbles exactly?"

He pointed to the exact spot and I swam to it and dove straight down.

It was a long shot. I could sense multiple animal life-forces in the water. Who knew if one – or several – of those were air-breathing animals. It was the only lead I had, so I went with it.

Silvery bubbles rose passed me. I was about five feet away from the bottom and could make out a fissure in the rock just big enough for a person to slip into. More bubbles issued out of it, shooting up to the surface like a cork.

I continued toward the fissure and peeked over the edge. One hand curled over the rough, sharp edge as the other reached in.

I flushed out my prey.

In a mighty stream of bubbles obscuring her form, she torpedoed through the water. Hugging the bottom, she all too quickly vanished from sight once more.

I snarled but only bubbles left my mouth. I summoned my _ki_ and used that to push myself through the water in the direction she fled far faster than my legs could have moved me.

I would have to react faster next time if I was to catch her.

I quickly came up to a large patch of tall water-grass, a large shoal of small, silvery fish darting about as one form in a panic. I wasn't interested in them, but they must not have gotten the memo.

The patch of grass was plenty big enough to conceal my wife. I kicked into it and began sweeping my arms around, hoping I'd bump into her. No such luck.

A sudden blast of water shoved me out of the grass patch and sent me tumbling head over heals several feet, just about knocking the last bit of air out of me.

I recovered quickly just in time to see her rocketing to the surface.

Once again, I used my _ki_ to propel myself through the water, rocketing toward the surface after her.

She broke the surface – and left the water – first, but I was only seconds behind. I Instant Transmissioned myself in front of her, earning a startled gasp out of her in the process. I darted forward and grabbed her wrists as we hovered a few feet above the water.

"Ha! See? I told you I'd get you!"

She rolled her eyes and then looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. "Took you long enough. You have to admit I gave you a run for your money."

"You _are_ pretty fast, but I'm faster."

She rolled her eyes again.

I pulled her in by her wrists and gave her a quick kiss. _Truce?_

She smiled into our kiss. _Truce._

I released her and she flew toward Gohan. When she reached him, she lowered herself back down into the water.

I followed suit.

A minute later, we were all floating lazily on our backs watching the clouds drift by overhead, completely relaxed. Chichi was next to me with Gohan on her other side.

"How did you make that fish, Mom?"

"It was easy, Sweetie. I'll show you. Just use your energy to shape it and make it move."

Chichi righted herself in the water and started intently in front of her and I followed her gaze. There was that same sound of flowing water again as a tendril of water snaked into the air at our feet. It took the form of that same fish from before.

I looked over at her to see her slender eyebrows pulled down in concentration, an arm raised up in front of her. I stared at her in wonder.

A big splash pulled my attention back to the fish, but it was gone. Seconds later, the sleek, glistening form of a six-foot dolphin leaped up from beside Gohan and sailed over the three of us, drops of water landing on our bodies and splashed down on my other side.

"Chichi! That was amazing!"

"Yeah, Mom! Do it again!"

She obliged as two more dolphins sailed over us together, their bodies shimmering in the afternoon sun.

The equally sleek form of a sea lion jumped over us next the same way the dolphins had. It repeated its circuit once more, the second time around pausing at Gohan, its snout inches from his face and spat a little bit of water at him.

He coughed once and laughed.

The sea lion rounded on me and I reached up. I expected my hand to just pass through it as easily as I would dip my hand in water so I was a little bit surprised to meet some resistance. It felt… solid? It wasn't ice. I reached out to it with my senses, my hand on the creature's head.

I could feel her _ki_ enveloping it. She was masterfully using her _ki_ to shape the water into whatever shape she wanted it to be. It was her _ki_ that gave it that strange sort of solid feel.

I had a little bit of limited practice with telekinesis, but what Chichi was doing was completely out of my league.

"My turn!"

I glanced at Gohan. I had asked myself if he was really capable of that, too. I supposed it shouldn't have surprised me. He was her son after all.

The sea lion pulled away and dropped into the water at my feet and Chichi resumed her float.

I turned back to watch Gohan, curious to see what he was going to do. He righted himself and raised his arm like his mother and his eyes narrowed a little bit in concentration.

I heard that same flowing water sound and looked toward it just in time to see a tendril reach up and out of the water and become a gracefully flapping pelican.

The bird sailed through the air, flying wide circles several feet above us, its long wings outstretched. The bird landed next to me and folded its wings. I reached out with both my hand and my senses.

Like with Chichi's water animals, I sensed Gohan's _ki_ in the pelican giving it shape and movement.

The water lost its form and – with a splash – the bird was gone.

I looked at Gohan again to see him rubbing his temples.

"That's hard work, Mom! I gave myself a headache."

She reached over and ran her hand through his hair. "With practice, your head will stop hurting. Okay, you two. Let's call it a day and head home."

Gohan and I both nodded. Gohan yawned loudly, which triggered yawns from Chichi and me too. It was definitely time to go home. The sun had dropped low to the horizon, bathing the whole area in rich, warm golden light as the clouds turned varying shades of purple, pink, orange, and bright gold.

We all lifted ourselves out of the water and flew lazily to the shore where we had left our things. Gohan and I dried ourselves off with our _kis_ as Chichi disappeared behind a large boulder to change.

I decided only to pull on my _gi_ pants and Gohan did the same.

A minute or two later, Chichi emerged from her hiding place having changed back into her _cheongsam._ "Let's eat dinner. Then we will head home."

At that that magic word, my stomach roared in response shortly followed by Gohan's. The noise echoed around the area. She just rolled her eyes, pulled out that box of capsules again and clicked one, revealing a blanket spread out on the ground. She clicked another and the light breeze pushed the puff of smoke away, revealing a large picnic basket.

She bent down and lifted the lid. At that moment, the breeze shifted and the amazing smells of Chichi's home cooking flowing out slammed into me. It took all my self-control to not just tear into the basket. I knew she probably would have refused me my dinner had I done that. I couldn't stop the drop of drool that rolled out of the corner of my mouth and down my chin.

I glanced at Gohan, only to see his eyes glazed in hunger, too. A bit of drool dribbled off his chin. His hand twitched toward the basket in anticipation.

It really had been a while since we last ate. We were so busy training, we lost track of time.

Another growl echoed around the landscape, slightly less loud than mine and Gohan's. He and I laughed and Chichi blushed with a faint scowl on her face as she pulled dish after dish out of the basket.

She sighed and said somewhat exasperatedly, "Okay, boys. It's ready."

The three of us dove into our huge spread, Gohan on one side of me and Chichi on the other. I watched Chichi amusedly as she stuffed her face with every bit as much gusto as Gohan and I did.

Gohan leaned toward me and said out of the corner of his mouth between bites, "I don't think I'm _ever_ going to get used to seeing Mom like this."

I leaned toward Gohan and – keeping my voice equally as low – said, "I know exactly what you mean."

Gohan had been around Chichi with those new powers of hers for a month longer than I had and he still wasn't used to it. I didn't think I'd get used to seeing Chichi like that either – especially since she was the one always getting after us for our bad manners.

She put away almost as much as me. I remembered she got a lot hungrier while pregnant with Gohan, but that was mere nibbling compared to the way she demolished plate after plate since her powers had been awakened. That plus a pregnancy made her extra hungry.

I hoped her appetite would stay. It was… cute to watch _her_ eat like that for once.

She caught me staring at her and raised a questioning eyebrow as she stuffed an entire huge roll in her mouth. I just chuckled and rubbed her back affectionately.

She shrugged and turned back to her food, but leaned toward me just a little bit.

After all three of us were gorged, we cleaned up our mess and headed home for the night.


	6. A Surprising New Technique

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple of weeks into their training, Goku and Chichi accidentally discover a powerful new technique while merely trying to kick their training up a notch.

**Chapter 6:**

**A Surprising New Technique**

_The Next Day_

On my third day back, Chichi and I sat under the hot sun at our training grounds, deep into our Mind Manipulation session while Gohan trained by himself.

My eyes shut tight in concentration, I launched myself at the strong wall around her mind. There were no weak points, no cracks to press against even though we had been at it for a couple of hours. Neither of us showed any sign of exhaustion.

That was until a loud growl shattered her wall, but because I was so intensely concentrated on piercing her wall, I shoved a spike into her mind before I could stop my momentum – earning a surprised and pained yelp from her in the process.

My eyes snapped open to see her glaring down at her stomach as she rubbed her temples.

I chuckled. "Snack time!"

She sighed deeply. "Go get Gohan, will you?"

I nodded and jumped into the air.

In a flash, Gohan and I were seated on the ground next to Chichi, a blanket with great food stretched in front of us.

Chichi's stomach let out another rumble and she wasted no time at all tucking in, her chopsticks moving at an impressive speed.

I think she actually ate more than me in a day with that double whammy of being half Saiyan and pregnant, but I wasn't about to say anything. I kind of wanted to keep my head.

Gohan giggled as he watched her eat. "Wow, Mom! I think you eat more than Dad these days!"

She glanced over at him and I held my breath.

She glared at the pile of empty dishes in front of her. "I guess I do, don't I? And now I can't even blame that all on your father."

Her head whipped around and she shot me a glare – causing me to instantly tense – but her twitching lips betrayed the smile she was trying to hide.

I silently blew out the breath I held and rubbed the back of my neck, slightly surprised she didn't bite _his_ head off. Gohan was the _only_ one who could get away with saying something like that to her.

When Chichi's attention was back on the food on her plate, I shot Gohan a _look._ The glance he gave me was an innocent, _What?_

He was playing coy. He knew exactly what he did.

We didn't need telepathy for everything, and – thankfully – Chichi was none the wiser. I think we both – or mostly just me – would have been in some trouble if she had been listening in on our thoughts during that little exchange.

I realized I didn't think I'd ever get used to watching her stuff her face like that, but saying anything was a very, _very_ bad idea – however cute she was. I didn't want to go back to Other World.

After a few minutes, we were done with our snack, every last crumb eaten. She cleaned up our mess and put our things back in capsules.

Chichi stood up. "Goku? Gohan? You two go spar for a bit. I'm going to find some shade and rest for a bit."

I cheered and immediately jumped into the air as Chichi went to find some shade. A second later, Gohan joined me in the sky and we started our match, quickly kicking things up a notch into Super Saiyan.

As we fought, it became uncomfortably hot – not quite as bad as the Time Chamber, but pretty close. Within minutes, we both had sweat pouring down our faces and soaking into our _gis_ but we kept up our fight for a solid hour. Since we were only maintaining our skill and not pushing our bodies to reach a new level by a deadline, we decided to call it quits for the day.

We landed and dropped out of Super Saiyan, both hot and sweating and a little bit bruised.

He flopped down on the ground. "It feels _so good_ to claim this as our training grounds since the battle, Dad!"

I grinned at him as I flopped down beside him. "I thought it would."

The sound of gravel crunching caught my attention and I turned my head toward the sound to see Chichi walking up to us.

She raised an eyebrow as she looked us over. "It looks like you two had a good match."

Gohan and I both nodded happily, still lying in the dirt.

She sighed. "Let's go home and get cleaned up. Tonight, I would rather eat dinner in the comfort of our home than out in the field."

I nodded and wiped the sweat off my face. "It's too hot to continue out here, anyway."

Gohan got up. "The cool air of the mountains sounds great!"

I glanced up at the hot, late afternoon sun as I got up. "Let's head home."

An hour so later, we landed in our front yard. My family and I walked into our house when I suddenly sensed several very familiar life-forces rocketing toward us at very high speed and ran right back out.

I lifted back up into the air and stopped to hover a ways above the tree line and Gohan and Chichi followed me up just as the specks of Krillin, Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu rapidly grew bigger – followed by a small Capsule Corp airplane hot on their heels.

Krillin reached me first and he slammed into me and wrapped his arms around my middle. "GOKU! YOU'RE BACK!"

I laughed lightly. "Hey, Krillin. Yeah… I'm alive."

He let go of me and backed up, staring up at me a little teary-eyed. "What… what changed your mind?"

My smile faltered and I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well… it's a long story. Heh-heh."

Krillin raised an eyebrow. "We sensed you when you first came back a couple of weeks ago, but I convinced the others to not descend on you right away. I thought maybe you'd appreciate some time with your family first. Anyway, what happened? It's gotta be something big."

"Thanks for that, Krillin. I appreciate it." I paused, wondering where the heck I was supposed to start. I had just opened my mouth when an irritated, gruff voice cut me off.

The owner of the very irritated and gruff voice got in my face – a vein popping out of his forehead. "Enough with the small talk! What is the _meaning_ of this, Kakarot? We've all been sensing some huge energy from your place from an unknown source. Talk. Now."

"Well… It's a long story. Why don't we land and I'll tell you about it."

Vegeta was the first to drop to the ground with a grunt and crossed his arms as I turned my attention to the others and Bulma in her airplane.

I waved. "Hey, guys!"

They all responded with a chorus of: "Welcome back, Goku!"

Bulma waved happily with tears in her blue eyes.

I could sense their curiosity pouring off of them so I landed and they followed me down.

As soon as we touched down, they stared at me with rapt attention. Even Piccolo looked curious. Bulma got out of her plane with baby Trunks and joined the group gathered in front of me.

Yamcha moved forward. "We've been sensing you and Gohan spar and from the intensity of your energies, we get the feeling it's not just a sparring-for-the-fun-of-it match. Besides that, there's gotta be some big reason you came back after saying you weren't going to. Is there some new bad guy we should know about?"

"Actually… there is."

"Well, don't leave us hanging! What's going on? And why have we been sensing some unusual and unfamiliar energy here?"

Unusual energy? I wasn't sure what they meant until Gohan popped into my head.

_They must have been sensing Mom's new energy, Dad._

_Oh! Of course!_

What I said out loud was, "It's… a very long story. Let me start from the beginning."

Chichi's consciousness brushed mine. _Tell them everything! They can help us, too!_

_I will._

After that telepathic exchange, I dove into the explanation of how and why I came back. I told them about meeting Cressa, about the tribe she came from, their special powers and about the traitor and why King Vegeta was so desperate to get his hands on them and about the high possibility of them being on Earth. I also told them Chichi's pregnant. I finished with the training Cressa put me through in Other World and the training we had been doing every day since I got back.

As the others listened to my story, their expressions morphed from rapt attention to confusion, to complete disbelief as they stared at Chichi.

Vegeta charged up to us, his expression shocked. "Other Saiyans on Earth! How is it _I_ never knew this!? I had heard about the other tribes and their unusual powers from my father. I knew he ordered to have them executed because they refused to assist in his revolt against Frieza. I had no idea some escaped and arrived _here_ of all places. I must find them!"

I could just see the gears turning in his head as he realized he might be a prince of a race that may not have been quite as extinct as he once thought.

"They're somewhere here, but Cressa doesn't think we'll ever find them. That doesn't really matter right now. We–"

He got inches from my face and his shocked expression quickly turned into a fierce scowl of anger. "Doesn't _matter_!? Have you LOST YOUR MIND, KAKAROT!? THERE'S MORE OF OUR RACE HERE ON EARTH THIS _WHOLE TIME_ AND YOU'RE TELLING ME IT _DOESN'T MATTER!?"_

He was spittin' pissed.

I wiped my face. "No it–"

I was interrupted by Chichi's fist slamming into Vegeta's cheek and he staggered back several steps with an impressive shiner.

Her nose wrinkled and eyes narrowed in her fury, she stomped toward him and grabbed Vegeta's collar as her energy spiked. "WE HAVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT RIGHT NOW, VEGETA! HAVE YOU FELT THAT ENERGY!? NOTHING ELSE MATTERS IF WE CAN'T BEAT THIS TRAITOR!"

There was an underlying edge of hysteria in her voice, just detectable below her anger.

Vegeta leveled a glare so intense at her I was sure he was about to attack her. Fat chance of that!

Chichi chose that moment to lift an arm and fired a blast a foot wide to her side and into the trees with a yell – all the while maintaining her firm grip on Vegeta's collar with the other. Her yell sounded like it was more out of anger than exertion and the blast was just her way of venting.

She finally released him and he backed down as the others stared at her with their jaws disconnected from their faces.

Tien was the first to recover from his shock. "So… it's true. You're really half-Saiyan. After all this time."

"Yes, I am!"

Vegeta simply said, "I will fight. That traitor must die."

Krillin moved forward. "Me, too, Goku."

Tien and Chiaotzu walked up. "Count us in."

Bulma hugged me with Trunks on her hip and then hugged Chichi. "Welcome back, Goku. Of course, I'll help any way I can."

One by one, they all promised to fight with us and help out however they could.

"Thanks, everybody. Keep an eye on that energy and when my family and I sense her land here, we will flare our powers."

They all nodded once and Piccolo, Vegeta, Tien and Chiaotzu went their separate ways to get a jump on their training.

"Mom? Dad? Can I go with Mr. Piccolo?"

I looked at Chichi.

She was quiet for a moment and then nodded. "Be back by sundown."

Gohan hugged her with an excited, "Thanks, Mom!" and leapt up into the air and took off at full speed to catch up with Piccolo.

Yamcha and Krillin stayed for a while longer to chat and Chichi slipped inside to cook dinner for all of us. They applauded Chichi for her show of power, as she expertly hovered our plates and chopsticks followed by the serving platters full of food onto our outside table.

I chuckled, realizing she actually enjoyed showing off her power.

We sat down to eat and chatted and laughed a while after the meal was over. Eventually, Yamcha and Krillin left to get going on their training as well.

I helped Chichi clean up, the two of us exchanging small, light touches.

Right at sundown I sensed Gohan land in our front yard and seconds later, he walked in and yawned, triggering yawns in Chichi and me, too. Not too long after that, we all went up to bed.

* * *

_Two Weeks Later_

I felt warm sunlight on my face streaming in through our open window and opened my eyes. The sun had just risen. Birds chirped outside, and wind rustled the leaves of nearby trees. Our thin curtains billowed with the soft breeze.

I stretched – or tried to. A strong, warm arm draped across my shoulders held me against his chest where I had fallen asleep, its owner still far away in dreamland and snoring. The even rhythm of his chest rising and falling beneath me was very soothing and I decided I wasn't ready to get out of bed just yet.

He had been back two whole weeks and I was still getting used to having him back and loving all the little things about having him home – including falling asleep in, and waking up in, his arms.

After a few minutes, he stirred. I shifted so I could look at his face. His eyes cracked open and he stretched like a cat – freeing my shoulders in the process – as he yawned a huge yawn.

He rubbed his eyes and then his eyes crinkled in a lazy, lopsided, sleepy smile. "Mornin', Honey."

I brushed my hand through his hair. "Morning, my sweet husband."

My action earned a contented sigh out of his lips as his eyelids drooped. "You know, I'm never going to want to get out of bed if you keep doing that."

A massive roar sounded in the room, shattering the peacefulness of the morning and flushing every bird for a mile around. I rolled my eyes and frowned down at my stomach exasperatedly because that _wasn't_ from Goku's.

He chuckled and reached down to rub my still mostly flat stomach, a tender smile on his lips. "I think someone wants you to get out of bed and make breakfast."

I sighed. "Oh, I guess you're right."

I reluctantly got out of bed and walked over to my dresser, pulling out the day's cheongsam _._ The one I pulled on the morning of Goku's second week home happened to be light purple – one of Goku's favorite colors on me.

After dressing myself, I brushed through my hair and twisted it up into my usual tight bun.

I felt eyes boring holes into my back and turned around, as I raised a questioning eyebrow.

The look he was giving me so tender and sweet, my insides melted as I felt my cheeks get a little warm, my teeth finding my lower lip in a shy smile and I sidled out of the room, bumping into the doorframe as I went. He could fluster me so easily after a decade of marriage.

A little while later, breakfast was eaten and the absolutely ridiculous amount of dishes cleaned and we found ourselves in the barren, rocky battlefield turned training grounds. It had become our favorite spot, since there was no one for miles and the men in my life could really let loose in their sparring without worrying about destroying anything.

I wasn't surprised at all with how easily Goku fell into our training routine after getting wished back. When he came back to us, I didn't have to teachhim anything. He already was very good at Mind Manipulation. My mother taught him a lot and very well in the month he trained up in Other World before being wished back.

I had started teaching the technique to Gohan the very next day after the Block was lifted. He – like his father – picked it up very quickly, too. He was a natural with it. It must have been a Saiyan thing to pick up new techniques so quickly.

My mother trained me when I was very young and the first few days after the breakthrough, I was very rusty. My training came back pretty quickly and I was able to teach the basics to Gohan. The basics were all I ever learned – were all my mother ever had time to teach me. After Gohan mastered the basics, we built off of that during the month we trained before Goku came back to us.

By Goku's second week back, it was clear we had outgrown the training method that had been challenging just days before. I was pleased to see I was making good progress – pleased that we all were – and ready to kick things up a notch.

"You seem bored, Goku."

He twitched on his seat on the ground in front of me and his eyes met mine. "Heh. Yeah, I guess I am."

"I have to admit, I'm a little bored, too."

I wondered to myself how I could make our training more of a challenge for all of us. If I knew anything about Saiyans, they grew bored real quick when training stopped being a challenge for them.

After thinking it over for a minute, I made a suggestion. "How about this? We take turns ganging up on each other. I think that would be a good way to test where we are right now and get stronger."

His whole face lit up and he grinned his famous, million-watt, light-up-the-room grin of his that always made my heart pound. "That's a great idea!"

I smiled. "Then go get Gohan."

He stood up and kicked off the ground, flying off toward Gohan.

A minute later, Gohan and Goku sat down cross-legged and eagerly watched me.

I took a moment to bolster my defenses. "Okay, you two. I want you to attack me with everything you've got at the same time. The best way to do this is going to be for you both to link yourselves telepathically and then attack so you'll be perfectly synchronized."

Goku and Gohan closed their eyes as their eyebrows pulled down in concentration and – a moment later – I felt that telltale pressure. They both slammed into my mind with a massive amount of force. It took so much concentration to keep them out of my head that counterattacking was out of the question.

I took deep breaths – working hard to keep my wall up – as they tried to drive spikes of pain into my head. I snarled as I felt my wall crumbling, throwing still more concentration into it.

It was pointless.

A second later, my psychic block shattered and I sucked in a sharp breath as a sudden, sharp pain exploded behind my eyes, so intense I saw stars.

Mercifully, they withdrew and I dropped my head in my hands, breathing hard, sweating, and feeling more than a little bit discouraged.

"Chichi…?"

I sighed into my hands. "I'm okay, Goku. That… just showed me I have a lot of work to do."

I felt a large, warm hand on my knee.

I fought to hold back tears, my head still throbbing painfully, a sick feeling bubbling in my stomach. "Only _two weeks_ … maybe less! Can we really–?"

Callused hands wrapped gently around my wrists and pulled my hands away from my face. "Shh… Chichi, look at me."

I met his eyes, his expression a little bit stern, surprisingly.

He gave my hands a gentle squeeze. "We'll be fine. We _will_ win. We've got _plenty_ of time."

"Yeah, Mom! We'll win! I know it!"

I took a deep breath and gave him a grateful smile and then glanced at Gohan. He was always so trusting of his father. If Goku said everything would be fine, then everything would be fine. Gohan didn't seem the slightest bit concerned.

That sick feeling still wouldn't go away.

"How about we take a short break and have a nice cold drink."

"That sounds great, Mom!"

I rooted around in my sash for the small box of capsules, found it, and pulled it out. I clicked a capsule and a well-stocked mini fridge appeared a few feet away with a small explosion of smoke.

Truth be told, I really just wanted an excuse to recover from my pounding headache. The boys didn't seem to mind the idea since it was rather hot out.

I walked over to it and opened it up. "Okay… I see my homemade lemonade, various sodas, and water bottles."

Two voices enthusiastically shouted, "Lemonade!"

I giggled and pulled a couple other capsules out of the box. "If we're taking a break, how about a snack, too?"

Two very hungry Saiyans sat one on either side of me, almost drooling as I clicked the capsules, revealing our food. All of our stomachs growled as one as the smells of my cooking permeated the air.

After downing our usual ridiculously massive amount of food for a nice snack and washing it down with my homemade lemonade, my headache had finally faded and I felt like I could get back to work. I cleaned up our mess.

Goku hovered in the air and sat down cross-legged in front of Gohan and me and watched us eagerly. "I'm next!"

I lifted an eyebrow. "Be careful what you wish for."

I glanced at Gohan and he nodded his readiness at me and I closed my eyes.

I opened up a telepathic channel between Gohan and myself, one deep enough that thought flowed freely across our link. Without a verbal cue, we formed our minds into one huge spike and slammed into Goku's defenses. What proved to be plenty strong enough to withstand an onslaught with just Gohan or myself attacking separately was about as substantial as paper with Gohan and I working together.

Goku let out a high-pitched yelp when we easily ripped through his defenses, and – as one – Gohan and I decided to withdraw.

"Dang it! I thought I was good at this! You two tore down my wall like it was not even there!"

I reached over and brushed my hand through his hair. "It's a good thing I came up with this. Who knows how strong this Saiyan is right now."

Goku rubbed his temples, wearing a pained grimace. "We've got plenty of time to master this, but yowch."

I nodded and then turned to Gohan. "Okay it's your turn, Gohan. Build up that wall as strong as you can."

Goku scooted over next to me so the two of us faced Gohan. "Ready, Son?"

"Yep."

Goku and I glanced at each other and nodded and then closed our eyes. We formed a telepathic link with each other, thought flowing freely between us but it felt like we were only just scratching the surface. What I tried with Gohan earlier felt like a strong link, but it didn't feel possible to go beyond that. It felt like Goku and I could go much deeper.

Goku noticed the same thing.

Experimentally, I surrendered more of my mind to Goku as Goku did the same to me. We dropped our guard completely for each other, opening ourselves up. The deeper we went, the more we felt like our thoughts were slowly becoming one. Neither one of us were afraid. Besides, it felt like the process we started couldn't easily be stopped.

Like our thought, our bodies easily fell into perfect synchronicity – our breathing, heartbeats, everything.

What we very much accidentally formed was so much _deeper_ than a telepathic link. I couldn't tell which thoughts were mine and which were his. We were so closely linked we were almost one being and I had no idea that was possible.

After forming our link, we turned our attention to forming our telepathic attack and launched it.

Working together, we slammed into Gohan's wall, tearing it down quickly and so easily, pulling a snarl of pain from Gohan. We stopped in our tracks, and retreated.

Once we retreated, we tried to separate ourselves. That proved far more difficult than we thought. Figuring out which were my thoughts and which were his was like trying to disentangle a bunch of yarn – and I had plenty of experience with that from years of knitting.

Slowly, we got our thoughts sorted out, and gradually withdrew from each other.

I felt Goku staring at me after we separated, and I looked at him. His eyes were slightly wide, and a small, amazed smile touched his lips.

I returned it.

I turned my attention back to Gohan and saw him holding his head in his hands and my mommy instincts screamed for me to pull him in for a hug so I did. "Oh, my poor little boy! I'm so sorry, Gohan."

His response was slightly muffled. "I'm okay, Mom. I hope I get stronger soon because that hurt!"

Goku reached over and ruffled his hair. "You'll get there, Champ."

"Your father's absolutely right, Gohan. Go find some shade and rest for a few minutes, Gohan." I sighed as Gohan pulled away and walked toward a little bit of shade under a rocky outcrop.

I looked up at Goku as Gohan walked off. "I guess it'll be my turn next after his headache is gone. Goku, you can go after me, and then it'll be Gohan's turn. Maybe we'll work through a couple more circuits depending on how our heads are feeling and then call it a day."

Goku nodded and then wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. "What happened, Chichi? I had never experienced anything like that before. Somehow… our minds joined together."

"I'm not really sure what that was to be honest. I didn't even know that was possible."

"That was amazing. We need to try that again. If we get good enough at that, we would be _unstoppable_!"

"Hmm. Then let's practice it."

"Yeah!"

After a few minutes, Gohan got up and walked back to us. Goku removed his arm and I sat up.

"Gohan! Are you–?"

"I'm fine, Mom. My headache is gone now. I can get back to work. Say… Mom? Dad? What happened when you attacked me? It seemed to take you a little longer to form your link than it did for Mom and I to form ours."

Goku and I glanced at each other, his awed smile from minutes before on full display.

I smiled at Gohan. "Your father and I formed something deeper than a link very much by accident. It took us a moment to separate from that."

Gohan's eyes went wide. "Wow! That sounds like it could be a really strong move!"

I nodded again. "Your father and I think so, too and are going to practice it. I guess it's my turn, then."

I took a series of deep breaths and mentally braced myself as best I could, knowing it wouldn't do me much good with the two of them working together.

I was right.

When they both slammed into me, my wall held for a few seconds and I thought maybe – just maybe – I made some progress until my wall gave in all of a sudden, exposing my mind to the onslaught.

The pain that exploded behind my eyes when my wall was felled was instantaneous, almost worse than the first time. They withdrew and I groaned and rubbed my temples.

Goku reached over and rested a hand on my knee. "Go rest in the shade a few minutes and then it's Gohan's turn."

I sighed. "Okay."

He stood up and helped me up and I walked the short distance to the rocky outcrop. I sat down in the shade a few minutes, relishing the slightly cooler temperature the shade harbored.

* * *

A few minutes later, Chichi returned to where Gohan and I were seated on the ground.

"How's your head, Babe?"

"Fine now. You ready, Gohan?"

He nodded.

I dropped the wall around my mind as I felt Chichi's consciousness brush mine, and I invited her own unguarded mind in. Like before, the first thing that happened was our thought flowed back and forth across our link and then swirled together as our minds melded. There was no mental separation. I couldn't tell where I ended and she began.

As one, we formed our telepathic attack, seeking out the well-guarded consciousness of our son. We really put our weight behind that attack, curious how strong we could really make it. Besides, Gohan's wall seemed stronger than it was the first time we tried that new exercise against him.

Like Chichi's, his wall held together just a little bit longer than the first time before suddenly giving way and we were hit with a torrent of thought from his young mind and could feel him scrambling to push us out and pull up his defenses, but it was obvious we completely overwhelmed him.

We gave the poor kid a break and withdrew.

Chichi and I went about trying to separate our thoughts. The first time took a while, but the second time around, I noticed something we both missed the first time. I was weirdly aware of _both_ her body and mine, but the sensations were separate in ways our minds were not.

I concentrated on the physical sensation I knew was mine. It was easy to do because I happened to be sitting on a rock – a somewhat sharp rock – and I allowed the annoying pain from that to pull me back into my body and opened my eyes. I squirmed as I reached down and pulled the offending rock out from under my butt and tossed it aside.

Chichi – aware of my pain from our merging earlier – watched me and giggled as I did that.

She turned her attention to Gohan, his face strained. She scooted up to him and pulled him into a hug. "Why don't we have something to drink and then it's your turn, Goku."

"Anymore of that lemonade left, Honey?"

She gave me a small, tender smile. "Yes. There's just enough for each of us to have a glass."

"Yay!"

She reached into the sash of her cheongsam and pulled out that little box of capsules, pulling out the one I knew had a fridge inside of it. She clicked it and tossed it sideways a little ways away and – in a small puff of smoke – the fridge appeared.

She found cups in another capsule and filled each with ice and her awesome fresh lemonade. After we had drained our cups – finishing the last of the lemonade – it was time to get back to work.

"Get ready, Goku."

I closed my eyes as I shored up my wall, adding extra layers to it hoping that maybe it would hold out a little longer against the super strong combination of two minds barreling into it full force.

My wall held several seconds longer than either Gohan's or Chichi's had but all too soon, it fell and that massive headache exploded behind my eyes once again.

We did several more rounds with that new training method until no amount of resting would shake our headaches. By the end of the day, our heads hurt so badly we almost couldn't fly, the pain so intense we all saw stars.

It was worth the pain. By the end of the day, each of our walls lasted a solid minute against the combined attacks of two minds. It wasn't much of an improvement, but it was definitely a start.

We still had a very long way to go.


	7. Relaxation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku has his family relax and kick back for the day so Chichi can have a break from their grueling training. Lots of fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does contain a little bit of mild nudity, but nothing explicit.

**Chapter 7:**

**Relaxation**

_A Week Later_

The days seemed to melt into each other as our training intensified and our technique and strength improved since Goku was revived. After I came up with that idea of two ganging up on one as a means to help each other strengthen our psychic blocks, we trained our minds almost exclusively with that. We made good progress.

Goku and I more deeply explored fusing our minds and practicing fusing and splitting up so we could do it second nature and quickly. Something that was a total accident actually turned out to be a very powerful move and quickly proved its usefulness. With Goku and I working together, it felt like we were undefeatable, like nothing would stand a chance against us.

Goku and Gohan occasionally sparred some as a sort of break from just sitting down when their headaches were gone. I had to admit, for once I was getting tired of not being able to do anything in the way of sparring. That must have been my Saiyan side talking. We did that rock exercise sometimes. That was better than nothing. I was extra careful to not nick myself on another rock after how badly Goku freaked out when I cut my hand.

I did get attacked by another pack of wolves while out to pick apples from our favorite giant apple tree to bake him an apple pie for dessert after a long day of training, somewhere around a week or so after that first wolf pack. I tried to make my move, but only plowed straight into – and bounced off of – a very solid orange and blue wall that fired several small blasts at the beasts and then whirled on me in a slight panic, and stared me up and down. I had tried to explain I had fought that first pack of wolves with no problem because he didn't show up until after the fact, but he wouldn't hear it.

I decided the next time something like that happened, I was going to _let him have it, dang it_ and that time was quick approaching.

We had just finished our training session for the day, having ended it a little early from being way too tired to continue and were in the sky on our way home. We were almost to our mountain when Gohan had begged to take a quick detour so he could check on a family of dinosaurs on the far end of our mountain range and Goku had immediately said, "I'll come with you!"

They zoomed off.

I thought about just going on home so I could enjoy some peace and quiet and get going on our meal. For once, as I tired as I was, that wasn't what I wanted, so I followed. They were already long out of eyesight, but sensing them was easy, so I let my _ki_ -sensing guide me to them. I flew for several minutes, as I steadily grew closer to their energies, but they were still a ways away.

A loud screech sounded almost directly above and behind me. I froze and my head snapped up. A massive, purple-grey winged dinosaur of some kind dove straight down for me, it's long sharp beak open slightly and was only seconds from snapping me up.

I scoffed. "Good luck!"

It didn't seem discouraged, but I wasn't scared. I was happy that maybe I would finally get that Saiyan need for a fight out of my system at least for the time being.

It was close. So close I smelled its disgusting breath.

A little more…

Right when it thought I was within its reach, I nimbly twisted away and its momentum carried it straight down and just a couple feet to the side of me as its beak snapped loudly at empty air – air I had occupied just seconds before.

The angry screech the thing uttered was cut short by my fist plowing into the creature's large chest. I flipped up and kicked the stunned beast higher into the sky then kicked in some power and shot up to catch up with it. I ended up a little above it and flipped once more to plant a solid kick on its back and it plummeted to the ground – dead – and landed with a very heavy sounding thud.

I brushed my hands against each other, smoothed my hair and straightened my ridiculously wrinkled cheongsam. I had just turned around to continue toward Goku and Gohan when I came face to face with them. Their mouths hung open, their eyes were wide, and their arms hung limply at their sides.

I only defeated a dinosaur. I didn't see what the big deal was.

I stared at Goku with one eyebrow raised pointedly and my arms crossed for several moments before dropping the long way to the ground and landing gently right next to the downed dinosaur. My two still very much shocked boys landed next to me.

I glared at him slightly and twitched my head toward my kill. "Still think I can't take care of myself, Goku?"

He closed his mouth as he recovered from his shock and gave me one of his rare very serious looks and opened his mouth, but I cut him off before he could say anything.

"I'm going to be fighting against a _much_ _worse enemy than a_ HUNGRY DINOSAUR IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS! YOU KNOW THAT, RIGHT!?"

His mouth snapped closed, but the stern look in his eyes still didn't leave. If anything, his frown deepened and his mouth opened and closed several times. My retort brought him up short and it was obvious to me he hated that but not because of his pride.

I huffed as I bent down and charged up a small _ki_ beam to slice into the dinosaur. Dino meat was good eating. In no time at all, I had several of the best cuts hovering in the air above and in front of me. Goku had taught me how to clean all sorts of game early in our marriage so I wasn't terribly squeamish. I didn't even have to get my hands dirty anymore because of having my power back.

As I worked, I could feel Goku's gaze boring holes in me. I didn't look at him. He needed to realize he couldn't protect me forever. I may have been pregnant, but I was _not_ defenseless. A hungry dinosaur was no big deal. Had I possessed only the strength of a normal human, I probably would have already been in pieces in the beast's gut. I was half Saiyan and my power was fully restored, even if the circumstances of the breakthrough weren't the best.

The fight that was my mother's became mine. I had to deal with her enemy back for revenge. For once, an enemy wasn't after my husband. Somehow, I doubted Goku could have handled the enemy on his own – whether that enemy was after him or not, he'd still give it his all. His all by himself wouldn't be enough.

Somehow, I doubted either one of us alone were much of a match for that traitor. If the three of us worked together, maybe – just _maybe_ – we stood a chance. It was the only option we had.

I stood back up fully and faced Goku, walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "I'm so happy you're here, Goku. I don't think we'd have a chance without you."

He knew the dinosaur was very much _not_ what I was talking about. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight.

After a moment, he released me and I stepped back and glanced at Gohan. "Okay, you two. How about dino steaks for dinner tonight?"

Three famished Saiyan stomachs sounded off at the same time.

I rolled my eyes and glanced down at my mostly flat stomach then looked back up at my amused boys and sighed exasperatedly. "Let's go."

I led the way home, the massive red steaks floating along behind me. After arriving home and cooking, we sat down to a very satisfying and delicious meal, and for once we had left overs. Dino meat really did go a very long way. After the meal was eaten and my kitchen cleaned, we went up to bed.

When Goku and I washed up and changed into our nightclothes – which for him meant only boxers – we got under the covers and I snuggled into him, my head on his shoulder and a hand resting on his chest. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders as I breathed in the wonderfully comforting vaguely woodsy and spicy smell of his warm skin.

The soothing rhythm of his breathing and his chest rising and falling had almost rocked me into dreamland. I didn't realize I almost dozed off.

"Chichi?"

His tone was soft, just above a whisper, but it was enough to rouse me.

I breathed a tired sigh. "Hmm?"

"Someone being able to come up with the ability to block power and memories like that blows my mind. Did that guy explain to you how it worked when he put your memory block on you?"

"He told my father and I a little bit. He was a master at what we do with our minds and very gifted. He said he was going to hit a series of pressure points on us while using his power and something about that combination was going to block my power and memories associated with all things Saiyan. For my father, it was just the memories. He did tell us it was unbreakable – he seemed very certain about that. What happened to me shouldn't have been possible. I don't remember more than that… I'm sorry. It's been too long."

"If it was impossible, what broke through yours?"

"I don't know. I could guess, but I don't know."

I yawned widely and snuggled further into him.

He was quiet after that and almost immediately, I drifted off into a deep sleep, faint memories of my mother from happier times surfacing in my dreams.

* * *

_A Few Days Later_

Our training continued much the same as it had been the last few weeks with one big change: our defense and attacks were far stronger and we each held our own during our two-against-one training sessions.

After lots of practice – multiple times a day, every day – Goku and I just about mastered fusing our minds to form one massive, powerful attack and mastered pulling apart and refusing. We got so good at it, we could join and pull apart in seconds. It truly became second nature.

We had also discovered how powerful our defense was when working together like that.

The three of us were seated on the ground at our usual training grounds with a couple feet between us.

"Anytime, Gohan."

We had also discovered while fused like our minds were that our voices functioned at the same time, too.

Everything was as one for us. Thought. Emotion. The rhythm of our hearts. Breathing. We were in perfect synchronicity.

We felt Gohan slam into our wall with everything he had. His attack was strong, strong enough that we knew it could shatter any one person's wall, but still didn't do much against ours.

Goku and I split, easily pulling apart our thoughts and feelings like we had practiced so many times before.

I smiled at him. "We're getting good at this."

He grinned, too. "Yeah, we are!"

Something else occurred to me.

"Goku, do you think we should test how far away we can be from each other and still attack?"

"Telepathy works from anywhere as long as I can sense a person's _ki._ This should work, too but it's worth testing just to be sure in case we get separated in the battle."

"Yeah, I say test it, Mom."

I nodded. "Okay, then first, let's fly a couple miles away from each other and try that and then we'll go farther."

They nodded at me.

I stood up and pushed off the ground first shortly followed by Goku and Gohan. With one last glance at each other, we each flew in separate directions at high speed. We stopped at the agreed upon two miles.

_Who goes first, Chichi?_

I broadcasted the thought to both Goku and Gohan. _I guess I will._

I disconnected our telepathic link and shored up my defenses, getting ready.

I felt them slam into my psychic block, but my defenses held strong. There were no cracks forming, no signs of crumbling anywhere. It held up strong against two powerful minds. I allowed myself a modicum of pride for that.

I decided to change things up a little bit. Without warning, I dropped my defenses at the same second I readied a mental spear for them both. With their minds linked up, one would be enough.

I attacked as their shock surged into me, but didn't last long. I sensed them scrambling to raise their own wall, ready to push back.

The spear slammed into their wall. I could feel them reinforcing it and it held no matter how hard I pushed, no matter how strong I was.

As busy as I was trying to attack and having my defenses lowered, they detected my weakness and exploited it. Mercilessly. And without warning.

Their minds working as one, they surged into me. It happened so fast, I could react on nothing but instinct. My eyes clamped closed and a grimace on my face, I shoved my wall up, pushing hard against their onslaught. They were so strong.

I wasn't weak, but I didn't have a chance.

Once they realized they had me beat, they immediately pulled back and the painful pressure on my mind left.

_Dropping your defenses to catch us off guard like that and then attacking was a good move, Chichi! Are you okay?_

_I'm fine, Goku. My head aches a little bit, but otherwise I'm fine. I think this proves a couple miles are no big deal. Let's push it farther. Let's fly out so we're ten miles away from each other._

We pushed it farther and farther, changing who attacked whom with each increase of our distance, launching surprise attacks at each other and practicing defending against a presence already in our minds.

It became clear to us distance really didn't matter at all. By the end of the day, we floated above opposite sides of the Earth, thousands of miles apart. We could hear each other's thoughts as clearly as if we were three feet apart and sense each other just fine. The distance wasn't anymore draining during our exercises than being a few feet away, which was good because that training method was tiring enough as it was.

Goku's energy popped up next to Gohan's very far away. _As long as we can sense each other, this will work no matter how far away we are, Chichi._

I yawned. _You're right._

I could barely stay in the air where I was hovering about fifty feet above the deep blue water of the Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles from land.

I didn't see how I'd make it all the way _home_ in my state much less the few hundred miles to land.

_Hang in there, Honey. I'll come get you._

A few seconds later, he – along with Gohan hanging off of his elbow – materialized right in front of me the same second as the last of my energy preventing me from falling into the water was spent and cut out.

I didn't drop more than a foot before his strong arms had me cradled against his broad, warm chest. I wasn't scared. I knew he would catch me. I sighed happily as my head drooped onto his shoulder and I was out before I knew what hit me.

* * *

_The Next Morning_

That traitor was about a week away, which meant we still had time for more training. Chichi pushed herself so hard, she wore herself out every day the last few days and I often had to carry her home. I was concerned for her and our child, but if we didn't win, it wouldn't be just the baby's life that hung in the balance.

Gohan and I sparred to keep our hand-to-hand skills sharp. Sometimes, I'd catch Chichi flowing through her forms and techniques by herself – gracefully and impressively quickly launching fist after fist and foot after foot at empty air. Sometimes, she'd go after a boulder, destroying it with one strong blow.

When she got really into it, her hair fell out of the neat, tight bun she usually kept it in, billowing wildly around her head as she skillfully whirled through the air. When she was done, she'd have a new hair tie at the ready and pull her hair back again, smoothing it so not one hair was out of place, leaving no evidence of her solo training.

The morning after Chichi had us test our telepathic techniques over distances, that long, raven black hair was fanned out in a sheet over my chest, its owner still sound asleep in dreamland. The sun had been up for over an hour, but she remained asleep, curled up against me, and I didn't have the heart to wake her. She had been sleeping more since we stepped up our training with our two-on-one exercises. They were pretty tiring and she had another reason to be extra tired on top of that.

Finally, the beautiful creature in my arms stirred, showing the first signs of leaving dreams behind. She squirmed against me and yawned as she rolled away. She stretched, her movement pulling the blanket off her and revealing her light pink nightgown and the little bump of her stomach under it.

I reached over and rested a hand on her stomach over the thin, satin fabric of her nightgown, immediately noticing new growth in the energy just in the last few days. She rested her hand on mine as her eyes fluttered open and she met mine with a small, groggy smile on her lips.

She rolled back into me, apparently not ready to get out of bed just yet, but my stomach – followed by hers – convinced her it was time to get up.

She sighed, stretched again and sat up, her hair cascading down her back as she moved. She shuffled to her dresser and changed into one of her many cheongsams, slits going up to her hips on both sides for ease of movement. I enjoyed the view of her lean, strong legs as she pulled pants on followed by her usual boots last.

She sat down at her vanity, brushed her hair, pulled it up into a bun, got up and left the room to get going on breakfast, but not before giving me a small smile as she stepped out of our room.

I got up, got dressed in my usual _gi_ , and quickly followed her downstairs and into the kitchen to see breakfast already well underway.

She had been consistently cooking nearly _double_ the amount she made for a family picnic a few days before the Cell Games. She may have been cooking double the food, but she cut the cooking time in _half_.

Dishes hovered about her, cooking in midair with only the skillful use of her _ki._ It was her new normal and I didn't think I'd ever get tired of seeing our training as intense as it was, our appetites were in overdrive and meals would have taken a very long time to cook the old fashioned way because of how much we ate.

Very soon, breakfast was ready and we all sat down and stuffed our faces.

By the time we were full, there wasn't much left over.

The three of us cleared the massive amount of dishes off the table.

Gohan carried the last stack to the sink and gently put them in water. "Mom? Can I watch cartoons until we leave for training?"

I glanced at Chichi. Generally, her answer was an emphatic 'no' and usually finished with 'go study!' but not that time. She actually said yes and he bounded into the living room with a very happy, "Thanks, Mom!"

There was definitely something going on with her and I was going to find out what.

She smiled lovingly after him as he dashed out of the kitchen, excited to enjoy his rare treat.

After a moment, she turned and started working on the dishes. I joined her at the sink and helped her.

"Chichi… there's about a week left before the battle… how about we relax for a day or two and then get back at it? I think you need a break."

She was quiet for a second and then said with building hysteria, "Only a week… Goku… shouldn't we keep training? We can't take a break yet!"

A dish shattered. She didn't drop it. She crushed it, the tiny pieces hitting the floor with a tinkling sound.

And then she burst into tears. She turned her back to the sink and slid down to the floor, landing in the pile of shards. I quickly rinsed my soapy hands and went down to her, bringing my face down eyelevel with hers and rested my hands on her heaving shoulders for a moment before pulling her into me. She buried her face in my chest, her warm tears soaking into the front of my _gi._

I knew it wasn't over the dish. She had been fighting so hard to keep it in check since I came back to life and we started training together, but I could sense it threatening to spill out over the surface – even without being in her head.

Her hands were balled into tight fists that gripped the front of my _gi_ and her whole body shook _._ "Goku… I don't want to lose you again. I _can't_ go through that again! I can't! And Gohan! He doesn't even _like_ to fight! He just did it because his friends were in danger. I can't _stand_ putting him through this again! I'm just so… so scared, Goku!"

I rubbed her back. "Honey… we'll be just fine. I know it! We _all_ will. You. Me. Gohan. We will all be fine."

I paused for a moment to hook a finger under her chin and lift her face up. "Chichi, let me make a promise to you. Just in case anything happens to me, the others know how to bring me back. I won'tmake the same mistake twice. I swear to you I'll come back to you."

A fresh wave of tears poured down her cheeks, but not from sadness. "You promise?"

"Cross my heart. Let's take a break today, alright?"

She nodded and nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck as her tears finally slowed.

The kitchen door creaked open and I saw a concerned pair of eyes peak in through the crack and I waved him off.

_Gohan… I don't think we're going to be training today. Your mother really needs to relax. Why don't you go spend some time with Piccolo or the others for a little bit and do something you like and relax for a while. She'll be okay with that. Just be back by sundown._

_Well… okay. Will Mom be okay?_

_I think she'll be fine, Gohan._

_Do you think…_ we'll _be okay?_

 _We'll be_ just fine _. Don't worry._

I truly, honestly, believed that we would, but I was still worried. I was going to have to be extra careful to keep that hidden.

_Okay, Dad. I believe you. Tell Mom not to worry about me for lunch or dinner. I'll go fishing for myself before I leave the mountain and I'll go hunting for my dinner later._

With that, the faint noise of the TV cut out and I sensed Gohan walk out the door and take to the skies.

I tried to lighten things up. "Well… at least now you know how it feels to be me and breaking things all the time."

A half-sob, half-giggle made her shoulders twitch.

She pulled away from me and rolled her eyes slightly then jutted her chin out. "That'll be the _only_ dish _I_ break."

I chuckled as I wiped away the last wet stragglers on her cheeks. "If you say so."

Her still puffy, red eyes narrowed and she raised an eyebrow and with a "Hmmph!" turned her a head away from me and stood up.

I stifled another chuckle and helped her pick up the pieces of the ceramic plate – which took a while since there were a lot of little shards all over the place.

She swept up the last few tiny splinters into a dustpan. "Where's Gohan off to?"

"I… sent him out to go hang out with Piccolo for a while or some of our other friends."

"I hope Gohan is careful! I really _don't_ want him to go to Kame House! I do _not_ want my sweet little boy influenced by that ANCIENT _PERVERT_!"

She nearly spat the last word, her volume rising ferociously – along with her _ki_. The whole house shook with her power. Ah, pregnancy and mood-swings.

I rubbed her back in an effort to calm her down before our house shook apart. "He'll be _fine,_ Chichi. He's a smart kid and very good-hearted."

She sighed. "I hope he's not too late coming home."

"I told him to be back by sundown."

She glanced at me and nodded approvingly as we worked on the rest of the dishes in a comfortable silence. Neither one of us broke any more – at least not that time.

"So… what do you want to do today, Chichi?"

"Maybe… we can go swimming just you and me? It's been a while since we've had the time to do that." Under her breath, she murmured, " _Years."_

I smiled a little sadly at that, but brightened quickly because I was back and more than ready to make up for lost time. "Swimming sounds great!"

After I did a quick sweep with my senses to make sure Gohan left the area, off we went, but I noticed one unusual thing: she didn't grab anything at all on our way out the door. The capsule case she usually had for training was left forgotten on the little table just inside our front door.

I shrugged to myself and followed her out. We kicked off into the sky and she led the way toward our favorite swimming hole. It was a beautiful little pond tucked deep in the woods and far away from prying eyes. It was supplied with fresh water from a small stream trickling down into it. At the other end of the pond, the little stream continued on its way, eventually ending up connecting with the small river that ran near our house.

I stripped down to my boxers and dove in, the water's temperature perfect – just cool enough to be refreshing. I popped back up to the surface and my eyes snagged on her and I felt my jaw drop.

She had nothing on at all. Her lower lip was pulled between her teeth as she stared at me slightly unsurely for a moment more, her hair fluttering in the soft, warm breeze. And then she walked toward me and gracefully dove in, my eyes following her down.

Her small splash snapped me out of it – sort of. She bobbed to the surface, took in a breath and then turned on her back and floated, utterly relaxed, her hair billowing out all around her head.

She turned to look at me, a soft smile playing on her lips. I reached out and lightly traced her cheek and down her jawline, down her neck, down her chest and stopped where that tiny energy was strongest, low on her abdomen. That little energy had grown quite a bit.

She rested her hand on top of mine and I looked back at her face.

As lost in the moment as she was, she didn't notice my fingers shift slightly against her skin, an evil smile on my face.

She let out a high-pitched laugh as my fingers danced on her stomach, the sound music to my ears. Within seconds, there were tears pouring down her face because she was laughing so hard and I laughed with her.

After a minute, I gave her a break so she could breath.

She raised an eyebrow at me with a dangerous look in her eyes as she righted herself and started treading water. She lunged at me and got me back, and my own tears poured down my face. She really was a lot stronger.

Finally, after over a minute of torture, she backstroked a couple of times and took a breath and dropped down below the surface.

I followed her down to the bottom about seven feet down where she turned and rested her back against the sand. I did too, the plant life growing down there on the bottom tickling my feet, the sand soft against my back.

I stared up at the surface, mesmerized by the refracted light shimmering above me and turned my head to look at my wife as she rested next to me, also enjoying the view, the water's reflections dancing on her bare skin. She met my gaze and smiled slightly before rolling forward and pushing back up to the surface and I followed.

We broke the surface at the same time, coming up only a couple of feet apart and I went in for a deep kiss, wrapping my arms around her. She sighed happily as our lips met and I did, too.

After several minutes of pure bliss, we cuddled in the soft moss and ferns growing all around the pond, the trickle of water singing us to sleep for a nap.

* * *

I woke up a couple of hours later with my head cradled by a strong arm with another wrapped around my waist and pressed gently against my stomach, my back pressed into his front.

We were nude, but not at all cold as it was a warm day. Birds chirping, little creatures running through the leaf-litter nearby, and the steady trickle of the small stream that fed the pond were all wonderful sounds to wake up to. None of those were quite as comforting as the loud snore next to me.

My nerves I had kept bottled up melted away long ago and I was very glad Goku convinced me to take a break today and I wondered what else he had in store.

He yawned and stretched. "So… what do you want to do next?"

"Get dressed."

He giggled as we stood up. I turned my back to him as I tracked down the rest of my clothes, but I didn't get very far. Two warm, strong arms wrapped gently around me and warm lips nibbled on my neck. I shook my head but gave in to his advances.

It was at least an hour before we finally dressed and left our secret place and headed back home to make lunch. After we ate, it was out the door to spend the rest of the day flying together, hand in hand.

"Goku?"

He glanced at me.

"Think we can go visit my father?"

"Of course, Babe!"

We were sort of in the area and I hadn't seen my dad in a few weeks so we angled toward his kingdom and it wasn't long before the village became visible.

"I can't fly in, Goku..."

"Oh! That's right! Hold on a second." He raised a hand up to his mouth and shouted for Nimbus.

Within seconds, the little yellow cloud flew level with us and I got on it and Goku got on too, seating himself behind me and wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his head on my shoulder.

Goku put a hand on the magic yellow cloud. "Alright, Nimbus. See that village up ahead?"

It bobbed up and down in the air a couple of times.

"That's where we're going."

Goku scooped me up – we had to keep up appearances at least for the time being – and we touched down in the main square of the village my father ruled over, the streets bustling with villagers out shopping, doing chores, cooking over great open fires, and everything else that came with living in a small, close-knit community.

Everybody in sight froze and stared at us and there were more than a few gasps. They had seen Goku before and were used to him flying in with me on Nimbus from time to time. That wasn't what made them stare.

It was because Goku was very much alive. They were somewhat accustomed to unusual happenings since I brought that wild-haired boy home to my father all those years ago, but they were still shocked to see my husband walking along with me.

I gave them all a bright smile as we made our way to my father's mansion. The village elders looked very happy for us while some of the younger ones pointed and shared whispered conversations.

We made our way to the front door of the mansion but before we could knock, the door was thrown open and Papa scooped me up into a big – but a very gentle – hug and set me back down on my feet.

"Great to see you, my dear daughter! What brings you all the way out here?"

I smiled. "Oh, we were in the area and thought we'd stop by."

He moved to the side to let us in. "Come on in, you two! Are you hungry? It's close to dinnertime."

Goku's stomach answered my father's question. Mine wasn't too long behind Goku's.

Papa just laughed his booming laugh as he led the way to his large dining room.

Once we were seated, there wasn't much talking going on since Papa was an amazing cook and Goku and I were pretty hungry from our earlier activities. The meal was perfect. As much as Goku loved my cooking, I didn't think mine held a candle to Papa's – even though Goku had argued the opposite every time I brought it up with him.

Once the meal and dessert were out of the way, we settled into a relaxed conversation that lasted a couple of hours, well into the evening. My powers were still a secret, but I wouldn't have to hide them for much longer.

Eventually, it was time to head home.

"Bye, Papa."

"Bye Chichi, Goku. Safe trip home!"

Goku waved and then scooped me up. "See ya, Ox King!"

He kept me in his arms even though the village long since faded from view as we flew home. I didn't mind.

The thought crossed my mind that might be the last time I saw my father earth-side seeing as the fate of the world was going to be decided – yet again – in about one week. With that thought and knowing we would have to resume our training the next morning, my worry returned just about full force.

Goku must have sensed that because he held me tighter against him and glanced down at me, giving me a reassuring smile. I leaned my head on his shoulder and he kissed my forehead as we flew home.

Once inside, we snuggled up on the couch, enjoying our last hour or two before Gohan was due back in time for dinner. Goku lightly stroked my still mostly flat stomach and I put a hand over his.

"I'm going to be huge! You know that right? Remember how big my stomach got with Gohan?"

Goku touched his nose to mine. "I can't wait."

He planted a kiss on my lips and then went in for another. Before things could get too heated, my stomach decided it had other ideas.

He chuckled, his lips still on mine then pulled back slightly. "Snack time!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes as Goku helped me up.

"A family of _four_ Saiyans. How in the world are we going to afford to feed all of us?" I elbowed him in the ribs gently, giving him a cute, cheeky grin. "Feeding you two was hard enough and then I changed."

Goku chortled. "Gohan and I can hunt and fish as much as we need to. We'll have all the food we need. Don't worry about it."

Right on cue, as the last rays of sunlight faded, the front door opened and Gohan walked in, slightly dirty and sweaty, but very happy.

I hugged him. "Hi, Gohan! What did you do today?"

"I spent the day with Piccolo and we sparred and meditated. Other than that, nothing too exciting."

In the three years leading up to the Androids, Piccolo and I had reached some sort of understanding. He was welcomed in our house and sort of became one of us. I – at first somewhat begrudgingly – accepted the bond Gohan and Piccolo shared. Then I really surprised myself when I found myself actually encouraging Gohan to spend time with Piccolo when he was lonely and needed someone else other than me to talk to and his father wasn't around.

I smiled.

"Are you okay, Mom?"

"I'm just fine, Gohan."

He seemed relieved and hugged me. "We'll beat her, Mom. Don't worry!"

I hugged him back. "I know we will."

Once I stepped away, my stomach let out a little rumble and my two boys snickered, giving me the distinct impression of a conversation I was not a part of. I rolled my eyes and glared down at my stomach a little disgustedly. I had _just_ eaten a big meal with Goku and my father not even two hours before! I sighed resignedly as I headed into the kitchen to make us a snack and then it was bedtime, my mind back on training and my sleep that night, restless.


	8. Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Son Family makes a very startling discovery very early one morning and Chichi doesn't cope well. It's bad news when a Saiyan wont eat!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter! But the action is coming!!!

**Chapter 8:**

**Closer**

_The Next Morning_

Something jolted me out of a deep sleep and I sat bolt upright, my heart pounding out of my chest.

Chichi yelped as she sat up. "Goku! What's going on?"

Groggy and confused, I was vaguely aware of a thump down the hall immediately followed by quick footsteps toward our room.

I rubbed my eyes. "I… don't really know. Something startled me pretty badly. It was probably just a–"

A presence barged into my head. _Goku!_

My head snapped up at the sound of that familiar voice at the same time as Gohan charged into our room – his eyes teal-green and on the verge of going Super Saiyan.

_King Kai…? What's going on?_

_WAKE UP! Use your senses and find out!_

Wincing at his volume, I did what he ordered.

_You sense that, don't you?_

I was suddenly very much wide-awake, my heart still pounding away. _Yes. The traitor's close._

_You're down to a day or two. Tops! Not a week. Her ship kicked in a huge burst of speed a couple of hours ago._

I took a deep breath, turned on the lamp on my nightstand, and stared up at the ceiling. _Okay. Well, we are ready._

_Glad to hear it. Good luck._

That was the last I heard from him.

"Mom…? Are you okay?"

No answer.

I looked at Chichi. Her face was pale, her eyes very wide and staring into space, her knees tucked under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs.

Apparently she – and Gohan – both heard my conversation with King Kai.

I moved in front of her on the bed, lifted her face at her chin so her eyes met mine, and stroked her cheek with my thumb. "Chichi…? Honey…?"

She twitched and finally her wide eyes met mine. "I can sense her so much clearer than before! She's so… close! Goku…"

"I know, I know. We _will_ beat her. It's all of us versus her. She may have that army, but the others will handle them. Everyone will be fine."

"But she–"

I put a finger on her lips. "No buts."

Gohan moved up to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, Mom! We'll win!"

Finally, her eyes crinkled slightly as she gave us a small smile, but her color still didn't return all the way. "Well, it's four o'clock, and I don't think anyone of us can go back to sleep. How about an early breakfast?"

Chichi slipped on her robe over her pajamas as Gohan and I grinned. "Great!"

With that, she got up and left the room, but there were an unusual drag in her feet and a slight slump in her shoulders. I got the feeling it wasn't from tiredness. I resolved to keep an extra close eye on her.

Gohan glanced at me with a concerned expression and we exchanged looks as we followed her out the bedroom.

In the kitchen, her cooking went on like normal… well, the _new_ normal. She wielded her chopping knife with fluid, practiced grace like she always did as dishes floated in the air about her, being cooked by the heat of her _ki._

She put the dishes on the table as they finished and sat down. She gave us the okay to dig in and we did. Well, only Gohan and I did. Chichi poked at her food, taking a small bite once in a while, with a faraway look in her eyes. Her eyes weren't just distant. There was a kind of tightness to them – a tightness of the same sort she carried in the last couple of days before the Cell Games.

As the day progressed, her smiles stopped reaching her eyes. She cleaned and like normal, but there was a certain jerky stiffness in her normally graceful movements, almost like a robot.

She barely said anything to anyone. She didn't even hum anymore. She wouldn't even make eye contact at all.

Nothing I did or said worked.

We had just finished eating an earlier than normal lunch, and once again, Chichi stabbed at her food, eating only a couple of bites while Gohan and I ate.

She got up and gathered the dishes, a worrying amount of food left untouched.

With a hopeful expression, he said, "Thanks, Mom! That was great!"

He was the only one who could get any sort of response out of her and he knew that. She cracked a painfully forced smile at Gohan's sincere one and his lips immediately drooped the moment her back was turned. Gohan and I exchanged a look.

_Dad! We've gotta snap mom out of this! Any ideas?_

_Not yet, but I'll come up with something._

_I can't stand seeing her like this!_

I sighed. _Me neither, Gohan. Me neither._

After watching her a minute longer, Gohan excused himself and headed outside to play with Icarus, leaving Chichi and me alone in the kitchen.

I got up to help her clean the dishes. She didn't seem like she noticed me much at all. I kept my mouth shut for the time being, until I could come up with something to say or do that would snap her out of it.

Once I put away the last dish, I put my hand on her back and she turned to face me, her face devoid of any emotion – for all of about three seconds – then she collapsed into me as she broke down and I supported her and rubbed her back.

She started talking but her speech was muffled since her face was buried in my chest _._ I didn't have the heart to push her away right then so I skimmed over the top of her mind.

A wild, chaotic combination of sadness, terror, protectiveness, and even anger overpowered me as it flowed across the link I made with her. The very worst one to feel from her was a strong sense of doubt.

Deepening the link, I waded through that overwhelming surge of pure emotion, and finally reached her coherent thought. I sent her as much reassurance and confidence as I could along with a massive rush of love as her shoulders heaved against my chest.

_Is it enough? Shouldn't we train more? So much hinges on this battle!_

_We trained as much as we could, Chichi. We are so strong now. Everything will work out. All four of us will be fine!_

The next thought I heard from her shocked me a little bit.

_Is this really what it feels like to be you? To have the world on your shoulders?_

I held her a little tighter. _It's not always easy, but knowing I have you and Gohan – and soon a new baby – waiting means I can do anything. All these years,_ you – _and Gohan –_ _kept me strong, Chichi. You're not alone, Babe! We're going to face this threat_ together.

I had no idea she had been carrying that around with her. The weight of the world wasn't always a weight I felt that often, but sometimes, when the battle took a turn for the worse and it looked like I might actually _lose_ , it was in those moments when – for just a little while – I felt that almost crushing weight. In the end, I always won because it was thoughts of her and our son that gave me the extra power boost I needed in battles past. In a very real way, the people of the world owed _her_ and our children their lives.

Her shoulders finally stilled.

 _Besides, this is what I_ do _, Chichi! I'm… kinda used to it._

Her shoulders twitched at the same time as a giggle reached me mentally, but what came out of her mouth sounded more like a slightly strangled sob than a giggle.

I pulled her away from me to look her in the eye and put on the most reassuring smile I could possibly wear as I brushed her tears away. _There's_ no _doubt in my mind we will_ win _, Babe._

She dropped her gaze, but there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. I tipped her chin up and lowered my lips to hers for a light, quick kiss.

Hormones and stress were very much _not_ a good mix. I resolved to make whatever time there was left before that traitor showed up as easy on Chichi as I possibly could. If she wanted to train, then we'd train. If she wanted to rest and relax, then we'd relax. We would do what she wanted. I was determined to keep her as relaxed and happy as possible.

A massive roar that could put a dinosaur's to shame echoed around the house – probably around the _mountain_.

She pulled away from me and stared down at her slightly swollen stomach.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "You barely touched your food today. You _need_ to eat."

"But… we just did the dishes!"

I leveled a no-nonsense look with an eyebrow raised and crossed my arms.

Thankfully, she didn't need anymore convincing than that. Saiyans can only ignore their appetite for so long. She blew out a breath and turned around to dig through the fridge. She emerged with an armful of containers full of the day's leftovers – leftovers that were only there because she didn't eat.

Watching her reheat the food was very entertaining. As she worked, her stomach growled almost continuously and she kept a napkin handy to wipe away the ever-present tendril of drool dribbling down her chin.

When everything was ready, I gently pushed her to the table and ignored her protests, and – for once – _I_ dished _her_ up. I kept her well supplied, refilling her plates as fast as she emptied them, which was alarmingly fast – even by my standards. She was eating so I was happy. She completely cleaned every one of her plates.

Afterwards, her stomach was actually a little bit bigger. A happy sigh slipped out of her lips as she leaned back in her seat and rubbed her slightly more swollen stomach.

I couldn't stop the chuckle that slipped out of my mouth seeing her pretty face covered with an impressive amount of food smears and gave her a napkin. "Better?"

She nodded and wiped her face.

As she was busy digesting enough food for _two_ whole meals, Gohan burst through the front door and charged straight into the kitchen, laughing.

"Jeez, Dad! I heard your stomach from all the way on the other side of the mountain!"

I smirked when I saw the deep blush coloring Chichi's cheeks and nodded in her direction and the giant pile of empty plates on the table in front of her.

Gohan followed my gaze and his laughter abruptly stopped. He gasped, ran to her, and threw his arms around her. "Mom! Are you okay? You seemed so scared since early this morning that you wouldn't even eat! We were so _worried_ about you!"

She hugged him back. "I'm fine, Gohan."

His mouth split into a relieved smile and then after a moment, said, "Wait… That was _your_ stomach!?"

She shook her head slightly exasperatedly and sighed. "Yes, Gohan. What you heard was _my_ stomach and not your father's."

"You scared Icarus, Mom! He fell right out of the sky and looked around frantically, completely terrified something was after him! It took me _forever_ to convince him everything was fine!"

Gohan burst out laughing again and doubled over. Gohan's laughter was contagious and before long, I joined in, the image of Icarus so scared only making me laugh harder. Chichi's lips started twitching and when she lost her fight with her smile, a giggle slipped through her lips followed by a much bigger guffaw, eventually laughing every bit as hard as Gohan. The sound was music to my ears and made my heart dance.

The second time within an hour, Chichi and I worked through the dishes, her movements much more graceful and relaxed.

I glanced at Gohan, who was helping to wipe down the counters.

_Gohan?_

_Yeah, Dad?_

_Don't mention training in front of your mother. I want her to stay relaxed before the battle, got it buddy?_

_Okay. I won't mention training, but what if_ she _does?_

_Then I guess we'll train – but only if she's the one to bring it up._

_Can you and me still spar?_

Oh!

There was that little matter. Saiyans couldn't go too long without at least a light sparring match. The only question was… how were we going to slip a sparring match by Chichi unnoticed?

_Of course, buddy!_

_Yay!_

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Can Dad and I go fishing later?"

"Fish for dinner sounds great! Absolutely!"

_Very smooth, Son._

He tossed me a grin over his shoulder and I stifled my chuckle.

Once the dishes and kitchen were clean, Chichi excused herself take a nap. She had eaten so much she managed to knock herself out!

Once Chichi was out of ear shot, Gohan walked up to me – his expression morphing into one of worry. "Why are you so calm, Dad? You were just like this before the Cell Games! And then you… Do we _really_ have a chance? Or did you accept that… maybe we don't?"

I got down on my knees so I was almost eyelevel with him and put my hands on his shoulders. "I'm not calm because I've _accepted_ anything. I'm calm because I _know_ we will win and _all_ of us will come home when it's over! There's no doubt in my mind, Kiddo!"

I ruffled his hair and his contagious grin returned.

"Your mother's napping. Why don't we go _fishing–_ " I winked at him and he chuckled "–now?"

We did fish, but not before a good, tiring sparring match far enough from the house we wouldn't wake up Chichi.

When we returned home with our giant fish, she was awake and surprised me by asking to go out to train after her nap, so we did. One last session couldn't hurt. She trained hard in that last session. We all did. I was amazed by her strength of will, amazed by the amount of determination I sensed from her. No fear. Not even so much as a slight bit of the butterflies. She was utterly calm and relaxed, even happy. Like usual, we ended the session with a refreshing swim, laughing, and playing tricks on each other and then went home to eat dinner. She really was calm.

That night, Gohan and Chichi fell asleep against me on the couch before the action packed movie we watched ended and I carried them up to bed, neither of them stirring. I slid into the blankets next to Chichi, and tossed and turned for a while before eventually drifting off with my hand covering her stomach and my face buried in her hair. I needed the comforting contact as much as she did.


	9. The Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Son Family meets the traitor they've been training to fight for the last two months and get a nasty surprise. Our favorite family fights hard for their very lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first ever huge battle scene. I've written lots of little sparring sessions and stuff up to this point, but this is the single biggest fight scene I've ever written in any of my stories.

**Chapter 9:**

**The Battle**

_Two Days Later_

A loud snore startled me awake and I twisted in his arms to see my husband sound asleep. I kissed his forehead causing him to wrinkle his nose cutely in his sleep and shift his arm off my stomach. He didn't wake up.

I made my way around our still dark bedroom and dressed silently. A quick peek out the window showed the dark blue of the beginning of dawn. I brushed my hair and pulled it up into my usual tight bun, brushed my teeth, and left the room.

I automatically walked into the kitchen, but realized it was still a bit early to get going on breakfast. Instead, I decided to step outside for some fresh air.

Goku's favorite tree looked like a nice spot to watch the sunrise. I walked over to it and floated up to perch on a sturdy branch high up in the big, beautiful oak.

I sensed him a half second before he materialized on the branch next to me – dressed in his _gi_ and ready to go– as the first rays of sunshine bathed the land in a dazzling, brilliant gold, turning the few clouds that dotted the sky hues and shades of pinks and oranges. The entire scene was breathtakingly beautiful. And I was relaxed enough to enjoy it.

A single streak of brilliant golden light flashed across the brightening sky and I felt a warm arm slip around my shoulders and pull me close. I leaned into him.

We both knew that was no shooting star.

Neither one of us said anything for a long while as we watched the sun climb ever higher into the sky, bringing the forest to life with its light.

The birds sang from their perches and flitted through the air. A herd of deer grazed calmly just on the edge of the trees. The distant, fierce screech of a hawk floated to us on the light breeze. The animals were all so calm, going about their lives in blissful ignorance – much like they had the morning of the Cell Games – that the world might come crashing down around us all if we failed.

I shook myself slightly. No. I couldn't think like that.

Goku seemed to pick up on my train of thought because warm lips touched my cheek and I turned to see him giving me an encouraging smile with his face only an inch from mine. I touched my nose to his. Neither of us had to say anything as we gazed into each other's eyes.

He pulled back as another presence floated up and joined us on our branch with a loud yawn – breaking the quiet calm of the morning.

I leaned forward a little bit to catch Gohan's eye and smiled a calm smile at our son as he seated himself on Goku's other side. He returned it as Goku rested his other hand on his shoulder. The three of us enjoyed the calm, beautiful sunrise for a long while, none of us wanting it to end, but the peacefulness couldn't last forever.

Peace never seemed to last long on Earth. Peace was an elusive and fickle creature, never staying long the rare times it visited.

We learned to savor those quiet moments that were few and far between, cherishing the memories like precious gems. If I learned anything being married to the strongest man in the universe, it was that things could change in a heartbeat and they did. That fact just made our time together all the more precious.

After that day, whether our family emerged intact or not, one thing was certain: We loved each other more than life itself.

We dropped down off the branch and headed back inside.

The atmosphere around our table was calm but quiet. We ate a much lighter than usual breakfast – just enough to give us energy but didn't eat too much. We didn't want to be weighed down. There would be time for that later and I planned on making a huge feast for us that night.

There was a certain confidence in the way Goku carried himself that morning as he helped with the dishes. A genuine confidence so different from the forced confidence he carried in the last few days leading up to the Cell Games. I knew watching him that morning we'd be fine.

Breakfast out of the way, we walked outside, exchanged long looks and took to the sky in the direction the streak of light traveled without a word spoken either out loud or telepathically. We didn't need to. Goku wrapped his arm around my waist as we flew, Gohan a couple of feet away on his other side.

After flying for a few minutes, Goku and Gohan flared up Super Saiyan for a few minutes for the agreed upon signal to his friends that it was time and then released their power. First, was Krillin with a small wave. Next came Piccolo. A little while later, Vegeta came up level with us. He and Goku exchanged nods. A few minutes after Vegeta, Yamcha joined us, followed shortly by Tien and even Chiaotzu.

Breaking our silence, Goku flew a little ways away and touched two fingers to his forehead. "Be right back!"

He disappeared and the others stopped to hover around the space he just vanished from.

"Wha–?"

Before I could finish my question – let alone get one word out – he reappeared with a woman grasping his forearm and a shiny golden halo hovering over her head.

I gasped.

She smiled at me as she released Goku's arm and floated slowly up to me. "Hello, my dear Chichi!"

My jaw dropped and my head got very light and – for a second – I almost felt like I was going to faint. Goku would catch me so I wasn't worried. Somehow, I maintained my equilibrium. Then I burst into tears and dove into the open arms of my mother whom I thought I'd never see this side of Earth again and hugged her close.

She wrapped her arms around me and rubbed my back. As she tried to comfort me, her shoulders shook and then she broke, too. She buried her face in my shoulder and we both wept tears of joy at seeing each other again after so many years.

After I didn't know how long, I reluctantly pulled back as Gohan floated up to us.

She smiled tenderly at him and reached out to run her fingers through his dark hair and brush the tips of her fingers down on his cheek. "This must be my amazing grandson Gohan!"

My sweet little boy grinned back a little shyly, his cheeks turning a very cute shade of pink. "Nice to meet you… Grandmother…"

Her eyes lit up and she pulled him in for a hug and he returned it.

I drifted over to Goku and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

Piccolo huffed exasperatedly. "I hate to interrupt a family reunion, but we have more important things to attend to!"

Goku nodded. "You're right, Piccolo. Let's get going."

With that, we were off again, my mother coming up level on my right and Gohan on her other side with Goku on my left.

We extended our senses as we flew, easily locating the _ki_ we were after and the small army with her. Goku glanced over his shoulder and exchanged nods with his friends.

We flew on for quite a while longer, the scenery growing increasingly unfamiliar as we flew farther and farther from home. She was a ways out. Perhaps she thought by landing a distance from us, she might catch us by surprise. We hoped maybe _we'd_ catch _her_ unawares – if luck was on our side.

We kept our eyes peeled as the energies grew closer.

Gohan pointed down. "That must be it!"

I followed his gaze.

Far below and a little ahead of us sat a large, sleek ship, black as night, the finish almost seeming to absorb light with no gloss to it whatsoever.

Goku glanced at me and then over his shoulder with a smirk on his face and – in a self-assured, battle-ready tone – said, "Let's do this!"

Goku landed to my right, my mother on my left, and Gohan next to my mother as the others touched down behind us, all of us kicking up a giant dust cloud as we touched down. Goku was to my right, my mother on my left, and Gohan on her other side while the others lined up on both sides of us and eyed the ship a hundred yards in front of us.

As close as we were, we sensed a flurry of activity buzzing in the ship, the ship almost humming from the amount of energy like a disturbed beehive. We monitored the minds of the small army. Some were confident and ready, others terrified, and still others were just looking for a thrill. Very few were evil through and through. None were terribly powerful. The others could definitely handle them.

With a hiss, a ramp dropped out of the bottom of the vessel, and – like angry bees – they swarmed out, falling into formation facing off against us, trying to stare us down. We were outnumbered – there were around three hundred of them and only nine of us – but it didn't matter. Goku's friends were _far_ stronger than they.

As the last of the army fell into their ranks, more movement on the ship's ramp caught my eye as a single person walked down it.

My mother broadcasted a message to our entire group: _There she is. Be ready._

The traitor's army parted ranks as she sauntered toward us. Her eyes locked with mine, full of pure, unadulterated hatred as she came closer.

Goku had told me the combination of dark eyes and dark hair was a Saiyan thing, but the resemblance between her and my mother was a little uncanny. The shape of her face and her eyes were eerily similar to my own and our height was almost the same, with her being slightly taller. Her hair was as black as mine but had a wave to it and her eyes were black through to the irises, but there was no warmth in them at all.

She stopped in front of me little more than five feet away, her eyes exactly level with mine and her dark brown tail poised like a cobra ready to strike.

My mother snarled from her spot on my other side. "Sabi."

Her cold, dark eyes darted to my mother and she cackled. "My dead niece has come to protect her family. How _sweet_. No matter. You'll all be together soon."

I stared at my mother with my mouth hanging open and Goku and Gohan gasped. I knew the traitor was a member of my mother's tribe but a _relative_!?

Apparently sensing my train of though, my mother said, _Yes, Chichi. This is my mother's sister._

Her right hand twitched toward me as if she was ready to reach out and strangle me right then and there. In that moment, the sound of scraping gravel reached my ears as Goku slid into a ready stance, his low growl a warning.

Sabi moved a foot toward me and – in an instant – Goku was between her and me.

"What do you want with us? What did my wife do to you?"

"Your wife's dear mother is guilty of treason against King Vegeta, treason that lead to our race being nearly extinct. She is merely a half-breed. Her life is insignificant and I will not have the gene-pool dirtied by a half-breed or a traitor."

Goku looked about ready to rip her head off for the last bit. " _Don't_ talk about my wife that way! King Vegeta was killed _long_ ago along with nearly all of our race! My wife had _nothing_ to do with that!"

"A couple of decades mean _nothing_ to a Saiyan. We wouldn't have lost our race had Cressa's tribe and others joined King Vegeta's ranks to fight Frieza. For that, you all must die. However–" her eyes darted over my shoulder "–I might just spare _you_ , Prince Vegeta. Speaking of which… where are the others? There should be several more of you–" She cakled again "–Unless they're all dead! _Where_ are they? If you tell me, I'll kill you quickly."

The others kept their mouths shut. They didn't know, anyway. We didn't either. Denying as much wouldn't do us any good either way.

She took another step toward Goku, her mouth splitting into a sick, sadistic grin. "If you wont tell me, then I'll just take the knowledge I seek by force. I warn you, it will be _very_ painful."

Goku's palm darted toward me for a moment before he pulled it in front of him. _Stay put, Chichi. Don't let her engage you in hand-to-hand!_

_I know._

On an unspoken signal, her small army suddenly charged forward as she did, too and the others met them head on as Goku lunged for her.

_Go! Now, Chichi! Gohan, help the others with her army!_

I kicked into the air as Gohan followed our friends. I needed to put a safe amount of distance between the chaos of the fight and myself.

Things were going downhill fast for Goku. It was clear she was a very skilled fighter. Goku was having a pretty hard time with her even after his power surged into Super Saiyan. She was actually a little faster than he was and easily blocked every strong blow he threw at her. She knocked the air out of him with one solid blow to his stomach and he flew back several feet.

My mother moved in also transformed and traded many fast, powerful blows with Sabi before Goku recovered and jumped back into the fray. Sometimes, it seemed Goku and my mother had the upper hand and other times, Sabi seemed to. It was just the ebb and flow of battle. What disturbed me was Sabi held her own against the two of them. She must have been training for at least a couple _decades_ while we only had a couple of _months_ under our belts. Goku and my mother were strong but it was obvious she was so much stronger.

I forced my rising nervousness down and quickly thought of a way to help them.

Sabi launched a strong kick to my mother's midsection, which she dodged and countered with a blow of her own, landing her own kick to Sabi's solar plexus.

Sabi's air knocked out, I chose that moment to extend my senses and focus on her _ki,_ and – in a matter of seconds – had her in a strong telekinetic lock. Surprise flashed across her features and she struggled, but the lock I had her in was strong.

Her surprised expression quickly turned into an angry snarl and the power boost from it instantaneous, but not before Goku rammed a foot into her stomach. When she was doubled over, Goku smashed hammer fists into her back, the force he generated slamming her into the dirt and I held her down with that lock.

Goku nodded a 'good job' up at me before refocusing on Sabi as she recovered on the ground below. Before we could think of our next move, she screamed, her energy crackling through the air and I felt the lock I had her in break. She was instantly on her feet, a murderous glare leveled directly at me as she kicked off hard into the air.

Then, I felt it… that telltale pressure on my mind and – having never dropped my guard – I took a deep breath and concentrated hard on keeping her out but it wasn't enough. Holding off the combined attack of Goku and Gohan was nothing to onslaught Sabi threw at me.

She didn't even seem to notice my efforts to keep her out and the pain was _blinding_ and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

Once she was level with me, she rifled through my thoughts like she owned them – thankfully not finding anything vital – before Goku Instant Transmissioned up to us and rammed his fist into her face before she could react, sending her flying with a bloody lip and in that moment, the almost unbearable pain lifted. She was faster than my husband in battle, but obviously was not expecting Instant Transmission.

He looked me over. _You all right, Chichi?_

_I'm okay. She only gave me a bad headache._

He blew out a breath and stayed level with me as my mother joined us in the air, all of us keeping our heads on the swivel, while the battle between the rest of the Z-fighters and Sabi's army was well underway on the ground below.

In fact, I was pleased to see the growing pile of unconscious bodies, happening to look down just as Gohan tossed another onto the pile. He glanced up at us and gave me a small wave and I gave him a thumbs-up. He grinned a carefree grin that was identical to his father's signature smile and then focused on his next target.

Goku gasped suddenly. _Sabi's masking her_ ki _! I can't sense her! Be on guard, Chichi. There's no telling what she's got in store._

I acknowledged him with a nod.

I detected it a nanosecond before it hit – an invisible wave of _ki_ moving so fast there was no time to react, no time to defend myself. From one moment to the next, I found myself safely in Goku's arms as the shockwave of the attack passed harmlessly by us, ruffling our hair. Goku lowered us to the ground, sat me on my feet, and immediately shifted into a fighting stance, as I detected tendrils of his _ki_ sweeping the land.

 _It's no good. I still can't sense her at all. She's not just masking her_ ki – _it's like she doesn't exist. She could be_ anywhere _._

I narrowed my eyes in concentration, trying to track her by her thoughts, but it was no good. Like we had demonstrated during our training, we could only connect with someone telepathically – and attack – if we could sense the person.

In the mean time, the battle with her forces was winding down, their numbers having dwindled quickly. I only sensed about five more still standing and even they were dropping like flies. Within a few seconds, they fell with a few swift blows from Piccolo. They never stood a chance.

As soon as that was over, Gohan ran over to us and glanced worriedly at his father. _What's going on, Dad?_

 _We can't sense her at all. She's not just masking her_ ki. _It's like she doesn't exist at all. Be ready, Gohan. She could be planning anything._

He inclined his head and slid into the same stance as his father, keeping his head on the swivel.

In the same second, we all sensed her and our heads snapped up just in time to see a huge blast aimed straight for us and we scattered just in time, the explosion kicking up massive amounts of dirt and debris. Before she could hide again, I seized her and floated up to her to move in a little closer.

I sensed her power building, readying herself to break free like she did before, but I was ready. I wrapped tendrils of energy so tightly around her body, I could see bands of red welts and burns beginning to form around her limbs while Goku and Gohan rejoined me, adding their own locks on top of mine.

Sabi snarled loudly in frustration and yelled out, summoning her power and her _ki_ signature skyrocketed. Her eyes turned teal, as her energy built and then exploded out in shades of brilliant gold with enough force it threw us back a few yards.

I didn't have time to get nervous before she attacked me, landing a very fast punch straight up my jaw. The pain that exploded in my skull was intense and immediate, far more intense than when she rifled through my thoughts and I was dazed, almost falling out of the air.

The last thing I heard was an agonized, "NO!" from Goku before my hearing left me, before my sight left me. Not left. _Taken._ The rest of my senses shortly followed them one by one. _She_ was in my head. Goku was, too, but was thrown out easily before we could link our minds.

I felt her reach through me – felt tendrils of her thought reach down to my limbs as her powerful mind clamped down on my consciousness and I was locked in my own head. Locked in an ever-shrinking corner of my mind, completely unaware of the outside world, only pain.

A thought that wasn't mine reached me in the blackness: _You are mine. You are powerless to stop me._

I was a puppet. For the first time, true hopelessness consumed me. I had failed.

Another venom-laced thought reached me: _Hmm… now that you're under my control, what should I have you do first?_

She was silent for a moment, then, _Ah! I know._

Suddenly, it was like a thick curtain was lifted off my face. Suddenly, my eyes were mine.

The first thing I saw was Goku and Gohan in their Super Saiyan forms launching attack after attack on Sabi and breathing hard. Holding nothing back, they gave her their most powerful attacks, but every explosion did nothing.

Nothing.

In their anger, they didn't notice that right away. A subtle shimmer surrounded Sabi that was separate from her Super Saiyan aura, almost like a mirage.

She was safely cocooned in a strong shield.

For the briefest of moments, Goku's eyes darted back to me then went back on Sabi and he did a double take. Gohan followed his father's gaze.

Their eyes widened and for just a moment, both seemed relieved to look into my eyes and see that I had control of them, see that I was still there.

Goku glanced at Gohan with very wide eyes and then Goku's gaze settled on Sabi, a new emotion on full display: pure, unadulterated hatred and it was a look I didn't think he was capable of making at all, but he was. He lunged for her and she knocked him away.

Then, I blinked and felt a semi-truck slam into me. Goku saw what happened before I did and I knew he was trying to stop or he would have hit me _a lot_ harder. As it was, we both went flying several feet in a tangle of limbs, but he stopped us and gently but quickly disentangled us, but remained by my side.

Against my will and a little bit confused at first, I was made to float in front of him, facing him. Static electricity crackled around me as my arms lifted, my palms settling on my husband's chest – _directly_ over his heart – and wrapped tightly around his _gi_.

It was then I knew what Sabi had planned.

I couldn't warn him. My mouth wasn't mine. The only thing I could do was give him a pleading look as I felt my energy churn and shift in my body and crackle down my outstretched arms.

I knew Goku sensed where my energy was being directed, but he didn't even try to fight me. I knew he wouldn't. Sabi knew he wouldn't. His hands wrapped gently around my wrists, trying in vain to pull my hands away without hurting me, but I wouldn't budge. All the while, energy continued to charge in my palm.

The look he gave me was absolutely _heart-wrenching_. His eyes softened and crinkled when he saw the panic I was sure shown through mine.

I felt tears gathering in mine and I tried to furiously blink them away, but they fell. He reached up and stroked my cheek and then closed his eyes as his brow furrowed in concentration and I felt his presence just at the edge of my awareness and I knew he was trying to fight her off as my energy was right on the verge of being released – enough energy that it would have gone straight through him.

It was no good. Her consciousness was too deeply… _engrained_ in mine.

Another presence joined in: Gohan. Even with the two of them mentally working together, they couldn't free me.

Then, I felt small, very strong arms wrap around my midsection from behind, gently but firmly clasping around me and – using just enough force – Gohan managed to pry me away, the orange fabric of Goku's _gi_ tearing some in my grip, creating just a few inches of space as the battle just at the edge of my awareness raged on. And then, the energy released, and all I could do was howl my despair in my head as the explosion temporarily blinded me.

Screaming for his father, Gohan released me and I was forced to whirl on the spot in that second. I watched in absolute horror as my hands shot out before he had time to try to fly to safety and wrapped around his throat, squeezing with a power that wasn't entirely mine. Like his father, Gohan refused to fight me. He only stared at me with wide eyes.

That expression on that face aimed at me… my boy was afraid of me. With everything I had – which wasn't much – I smashed into the wall holding me prisoner in my own head and for just one glorious nanosecond, I had just enough control to lessen the pressure on Gohan's neck.

Sabi locked me away again and I felt my fingers tighten. _You_ will _finish him like you did your husband. You're in my control. You can't stop–_

I had heard enough. First, she made me… I refused to think of what my own hands and energy had just done to my husband and thenwhat they were about to do to my son.

I cracked.

Through that crack, a sea of untapped power was just visible – like looking down a crack in the Earth's crust at an underground pool of lava – and just on the edge of my control. I felt myself slipping and squeezed my eyes shut as I dove into the inferno before I could second-guess myself.

 _NO! DON'T YOU_ DARE _! I'LL KILL THE BOY MYSELF_ RIGHT NOW _!_

I violently and easily threw her out of my head, angrily yanking her control away from my limbs – dropping my hands in the process – as I surrendered myself to the rage boiling through me. It seared my every nerve ending and made them come alive again, raw and crackling like an exposed livewire.

The rage kept building and building, climbing higher and higher, as it translated into massive power and I was _sure_ I was going to be vaporized from the intensity of it all. Or maybe torn apart.

I didn't care. I wasn't scared. I _welcomed_ it. Rage was all that existed. No fear. No doubt. Just pure rage and I was lost in it and the newfound, incredible power it brought.

The power burned through me like an out of control wildfire, and felt like it was pulling me in all directions at once, threatening to tear me to ribbons.

Just when I thought my body couldn't take any more of it – just when I thought I really _was_ going to be torn to shreds – it exploded out as a primal scream tore out of my throat almost painfully.

I was broken and reborn.

My eyes snapped open, and I found myself engulfed in a brilliant golden aura, the world shimmering and distorted around me from the heat I put off.

I leveled my gaze at Sabi just in time to see her slam a fist into Gohan's stomach and punch him to the ground. Working on pure instinct, I lunged at her with a snarl both physically and mentally before I could fully process what just happened to me. My fist collided with her stomach, her ribs yielding to the force of my blow with a satisfying crack as I tore through her psychic block as if it was no more substantial than a thin layer of ice covering a body of water.

Shock. Panic. Anger. Pain.

All of those feelings and sensations flooded into me and I relished them. _I_ scared _her_. Her terror made her angry like a cornered lion and she tried to counterattack, but I easily blocked her right fist with my left and checked her as I landed my right fist in her stomach and her breath whooshed out and she doubled over.

I landed a hammer fist on her back and she went down, slamming hard into the ground, kicking up a large amount of debris. She was down, but her hair was still brilliant gold.

She very much wasn't out.

Her teeth bared, she leaped out of the crater she made with an angry snarl into the sky and vanished, moving too quickly for me to keep up with her. That time, even though I couldn't see her, I could still sense her and sensed a sharp jump in her power as she charged a blast.

A nanosecond before she appeared, I sensed her in front of me and it was all I could do to dodge the blast, but I did. It missed me, but it was very close. She managed to singe a little of my hair, the blast of heat as it passed by intense.

So focused was I on dodging the blast, I dropped my guard in my head for a just a moment and then I realized the blast was only a distraction a half a second before she surged into my head leaving me scrambling to push up my defenses but she torn them down as fast as I could form them.

My heart pounded and I breathed hard. Whatever ground I had gained in the battle was lost.

I sensed a shift in her emotions, from shock and panic to steely determination and a fair bit of anger as her lips twisted into a sick, sadistic smile and she found her stride. She pulled ahead, and suddenly, I was reduced to only _just_ being able to block her blows. I had no hope of landing any more blows of my own. My earlier confidence yielded to desperation as I fought to maintain control of my own body and fought to stay alive.

Out of nowhere, a fist connected with Sabi's jaw, sending her flying, and the immense pressure on my mind lifted.

A new presence entered my head the second I needed it most, reassuring, strong, and very confident as the very much alive owner of that reassuring presence joined me in the air, a brilliant gold aura surging around him as well.

I wasn't able to form a coherent thought from the anger and desperation surging through me so I acknowledged him with a flicker of a new and equally as powerful emotion: relief. The front of his _gi_ was singed through to his skin, the last remnants of his _gi_ top hanging on his shoulders by a few tatters but… he seemed okay.

He pushed further into my mind. I welcomed the sensation as his steely confidence engulfed me, snapping me out of my panic. My eyes drifted closed.

He went deeper and opened himself completely to me, so there was no wall at all between us, nothing guarded. His thought flowed into me as mine flowed into him. His calm slowed my pounding heart, pulling it in time with his, forcing my ragged breathing to do the same.

As our bodies fell into perfect synchronicity, as our thought converged like two rivers about to join at a single point and then seamlessly merged, his sensation and feeling became mine and mine his as we had practiced so many times before.

We were vaguely aware of a blast exploding around us as our minds linked and then merged, the explosion harmlessly dissipating around us from the shield we formed.

Our eyes snapped open and immediately found Sabi, the strange little shimmer in the air from our shield and the heat from the blast slightly distorting her like a mirage. "You have pushed us too far. No second chances, no turning back."

She snarled and charged toward us in a flare of brilliant gold _ki._ She punched and kicked viciously, but – exhausted as she was – she was no match for the two of us even if she was faster. We easily blocked every blow she threw at us, our fighting styles merging every bit as seamlessly and completely as our minds.

Two feet collided with Sabi's stomach, causing her to spit up blood and sent her careening away from us with a chunk of her armor around her stomach missing – revealing a portion of a thick, corded scar stretching diagonally across her stomach before she wrapped her arms around her midsection.

She dropped out of the sky and was barely able to stay powered up, her hair flickering back and forth between black and gold.

We summoned our power to charge up two big blasts but before we could bring the energy out – from one second to the next – Goku partially severed our link without warning and grabbed me around my middle and yanked me out of the way just as an energy beam shot through the empty air I occupied just seconds prior.

He pulled me back on my feet and looked me up and down.

_I'm okay, Goku._

I sucked in a sharp, startled breath as I suddenly became aware of a very large energy emanating from somewhere around the ship. It was then I realized Sabi wasn't the one to fire that beam.

The angle was wrong.

The beam came from the direction of the ship.

I turned wide eyes on Goku, but he had his full attention focused on the ship, his teeth slightly bared. He looked fierce and ready, but through our link, I felt his heart pounding.

The tables had turned once again and not in our favor.

Between one heartbeat and the next, the owner of that massive energy appeared next to Sabi, bent over her and hauled her to her feet.

My mother flew next to me, staring at the new enemy in horrified confusion. " _What_!? No! I killed you, Gorlick! I saw the blast go _straight through_ you!"

Goku and I screeched, "He's Sabi's _mate_!?"

"Yes…" was my mother's simple, quiet reply.

He smirked evilly at us as he stood up straight. He was tall like Goku and had a similar build to him, but his skin was more leathery and tanned, and very, very dirty – maybe more dirty than tanned. It was hard to tell which.

Then – moving so quickly I lost sight of him for a second – he appeared directly in front of me, my face inches from his chest. My eyes burned and watered from the overpowering stench rolling off of him in waves and it took all I had in me not to retch on the spot.

Overwhelmed as I was by his stench, I didn't see his hands shoot out toward my throat until it was almost too late. A nanosecond before he had me, Goku landed a solid punch with a loud snarl across the reeking Saiyan's jaw, stunning him just long enough for me to bound backwards out of range of his arms – and his stench.

Sucking in breaths of fresh air, I took up the opportunity to shore up my psychic block, but I felt Goku's familiar presence brush my last bit of exposed thought. I dropped my wall as he dropped his, and we merged, our thoughts flowing together again, and then we lifted a wall around our mind, a wall so strong we were positive it was impenetrable.

It was a very good thing we did that when we did, because Sabi's mate recovered very quickly. We felt one big, powerful presence slam into our linked minds, but our wall held as they physically lunged for us, Sabi's mate viciously attacking Goku and Sabi coming straight for me as our confrontation devolved into a brief smattering of hand-to-hand.

I nimbly dodged her left leg aimed for my stomach in a powerful kick and whirled around so my right foot connected with her side, somewhere around where her kidney was, but she blocked that effortlessly. She grabbed my foot quicker than I could retract it and flipped me, throwing me hard to the ground, but I never hit.

I was caught midair in Goku's strong arms and he released me as my mother and Gohan darted in and knocked Sabi and Gorlick back several yards. I knew I didn't have to worry about hitting the ground. With our minds linked like they were, we were instinctively monitoring each other's fights and knew when the other needed help.

I charged Sabi, but she flew backwards many more yards, getting herself well out of range as her mate followed her. For a second there, I thought maybe they were backing off. I hoped they were, but that hope was short lived as I sensed a powerful surge in their energies as Goku materialized next to me so we floated shoulder to shoulder.

We knew what that spike of energy meant as we sensed it pool in their hands. Standing shoulder to shoulder and cupping all four of their hands together, the blast appeared and steadily grew larger and larger.

I realized with a start they were merging their energies and using that to create a super blast, far larger and more powerful than anything they could have possibly done on their own.

Taking the opportunity as they were busy charging their blast, Goku quickly charged up and fired a powerful Kamehameha Wave with a loud yell, but once the dust cleared, they stood unharmed and unaffected.

We gasped.

My mother brushed our consciousness and we let her in. _Goku! Chichi! Quickly do as they do! It's your only chance!_

Without a response, we wordlessly shifted into the same stance as Sabi and her mate, cupping our hands together like we saw them do.

We had a lot of ground to cover; their already huge blast was still growing quickly. Since we had mastered fusing our minds, letting our energies converge came easily. Not just easily. It felt _natural_ , our energies merging every bit as seamlessly as our thought.

That done, we immediately began charging our own blast and it grew quickly, bigger and bigger until it seemed to catch up to the blast Sabi and her mate charged up, and then, with roars, they fired and so did we.

Our blasts met in the middle, both massive and unyielding. We pushed and they pushed, giving it more oomph, harder and harder – the massive dome that formed when they met in the middle sometimes shifting toward us and sometimes toward Sabi and her mate.

We couldn't keep up that pace forever; we were running low on power. Sabi and Gorlick – who had the advantage of not being at all battle-worn – must have sensed that because he threw in more juice, forcing the giant dome toward us.

They were just too strong. He had a seemingly endless reservoir of energy to pull from while our power was just about to give out completely and it truly seemed that all hope was lost as they advanced on us, the massive dome of energy moving closer and closer.

Then, two presences joined us and threw out their own powerful, sustained blasts with angry screams. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw mother standing next to me, while Gohan stood next to his father.

Finally, the four of us began gaining ground on Sabi and Gorlick, forcing that giant dome of pure energy toward them as our steps fell into synch.

In Sabi's and Gorlick's panic, they threw in every last bit of energy they had left, every last bit of power and – for a second – they held us at bay, bringing our slow advance forward to a grinding halt. Despite the four of us working on the blast, they were still able to regain the upper hand, advancing slowly on us.

Goku, Gohan, and Mother put everything they had into it, their roars deafening. I didn't have anything more to give; I was already giving it my all and I was almost running on empty. I felt my power flickering slightly, like I was just about to lose it.

A sudden, almost uncomfortable heat boiling low in my abdomen startled me. That heat quickly radiated to my legs and down to my toes and up to my heart, my head, and then out through my arms. As preoccupied as I was helping to prevent us from being vaporized, I didn't have much time to figure out where in the world that power came from.

The energy from the weird, random power surge followed the continuous torrent of energy out of my hands, expanding our massive blast. Sabi's and Gorlick's screams changed from charging their energy to anger and terror as the massive dome was pushed closer and closer to them and then their screams were sharply cut off by a blinding flash.

Time seemed to stand still as the flash of light from the blast engulfed us, the world going blank, painfully bright white around me and utterly silent. And then, from one second to the next, the normal flow of time was seemingly restored, the blinding white dissipated, and I furiously blinked away the floaters in my blurry vision. In the same moment, the massive, deafening bang reached me.

My vision sharpened, the last of the floaters faded, and my eyes focused on a massive tidal wave of dirt and debris seconds from overtaking us and – without giving me a chance to react at all – I was on the ground with one of Goku's arms wrapped around me and then the wave swept over us with so much force we were drug through the dirt and rocks a few feet before coming to a stop.

With a scrape of gravel, I felt a weight lift off me – Goku pulling me up with him – as he looked me over. Turning toward the massive mushroom cloud billowing high above, he settled me on my feet, but didn't completely release me, his hand wrapped around my wrist and clearly on guard.

I warily looked to where Sabi and Gorlick last stood, seeing a massive mushroom cloud billowing up into the sky where the blast exploded, towering what had to have been miles into the sky as rocks and dirt continually rained down.

After several minutes, the cloud dissipated, and the dust began to settle, revealing a massive, smoking crater. The acrid stench in the air made my nose run and burned my eyes.

Was there truly nothing left of them? Were we finally safe?

Speaking out loud for the first time since the battle began, I looked at Goku and croaked, "Is it… really over?"

He closed his eyes for a moment as I sensed his tendrils of _ki_ moving out over the land. A minute later, he looked back at me and nodded with a relieved, but very tired smile on his dirty, slightly bloody face, looking just as tired and battle-worn as I felt. "It's over! We did it, Chichi!"

I smiled back weakly.

Then, with all the suddenness of a rubber band suddenly snapping after being stretched to its absolute maximum, my power left me. The brilliant yellow aura evaporated and my black hair fell into my face. I swayed a little on the spot, my head throbbing and spinning so badly it was making me a little sick.

I was vaguely aware of Gohan gasping and mouthing something I didn't quite catch. I distantly realized he wasn't mouthing anything, I just wasn't _hearing_ him because of my pulse pounding hard in my ears.

The last thing I saw was Goku's panic-stricken face as he darted to me, his mouth forming my name, as my legs give out and my vision goes black.


	10. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The entire Son Family returns home to the peacefulness of Mt. Paozu. Cressa joins them. That evening, a very special, bittersweet meeting takes place between two lovers separated by death two decades before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter! Happy reading! With this post, the longest fanfic I have ever written and probably ever will write, is over.

**Chapter 10: Epilogue**

"Uh oh! Dad! Quick! Mom's gonna–"

"Chichi!"

My heart leaped into my throat and beat double-time as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head, her brilliant golden hair fading to black and she dropped as her energy plummeted. I sprang the few steps forward to catch her before she hit the sharp rocks on the ground.

I carefully lifted her limp form and her head drooped onto my shoulder with her face in the crook of my neck. I was extremely relieved to feel her warm, soft, even breaths against my skin. I checked her over for any major injuries once again. I didn't think she got hit with anything, but I wanted to play it safe. I thought I could count the number of scrapes and bruises on her on one had. She made it through the battle almost completely physically unscathed!

Gohan stared at her worriedly. "Dad…? Is Mom… alright?"

"I think she'll be fine, Son. She's just exhausted."

Cressa tenderly stroked Chichi's cheek with a finger. "She did it! Right at the end, she did it!"

I extended my senses and checked on that not-so-little energy. I gasped and nearly dropped Chichi in my shock when I realized that power-boost from her at the very end _wasn't_ hers _._ I was so focused keeping that giant blast from hitting us that it didn't occur to me right then exactly where that power surge came from.

That little one was definitely going to be strong.

The rest of the gang flew over to us with huge grins on their faces, but their grins faltered when their gazes settled on Chichi.

Krillin got to us first. "She's okay… right?"

I smiled very tiredly. "She's just fine. Just very tired."

Even Vegeta approached, looking utterly thunder-struck, so much so that it was funny. A small chuckle slipped through my lips.

"She _transformed_!?"

I stared down at her proudly. "Yes, she did, Vegeta."

Yamcha approached. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it!"

Vegeta grunted in agreement.

With the last of the adrenaline leaving my system, I wobbled a little on my feet. That last huge blast took a lot out of me.

Piccolo walked up to us. "She did well. You all should go home. You look exhausted. Can you fly?"

Before I could respond to Piccolo, someone with a familiar, gravelly drawl spoke up as its owner approached us. "You don't have to worry about that."

"Yajirobe! You just can't seem to stay away from a fight, can you?"

He shook his head. "You all would be dead many times over if it wasn't for me!"

I chuckled. "You're right about that!"

I swayed dangerously on the spot, not sure how much longer I could stay on my feet. Flying was definitely out of the question.

He withdrew the most beautiful brown bag on the planet from his pocket. "Here, dude. Eat this before you drop her."

He tossed a Senzu Bean in my mouth and I chewed and swallowed. Instantly, I was rejuvenated.

He passed one to Cressa. "Wow. She looks just like your wife, Goku!" He glanced at me and at my wife and then gave another to Cressa. "This other bean is for Chichi."

Cressa quirked an eyebrow as she took the beans. "Of course I look like Chichi! I'm her dead mother!"

She pointed to her halo.

Yajirobe's eyes about bugged out of his head. "First Goku gets wished back to life… twice! And then dead people visit the living. Now I've seen everything."

Cressa laughed lightly – and I did, too – and then eyed the tiny green beans in her hand. "What are these things?"

I twitched my head toward her hand. "Those are Senzu Beans. Eat one. You'll feel way better!"

She shrugged and tossed one in her mouth, chewed and swallowed and then made a slight face. "Tastes like fish."

Yajirobe – who was busy handing Senzu Beans out to the rest of the group – gasped. "Finally! Someone noticed what I've been saying all along."

I laughed again. "Well, Gohan, let's get your mother home. You comin' Cressa?"

Her eyes crinkled as she nodded. "Oh! Let me give this to Chichi real quick."

She floated a foot into the air and stuck a bean in Chichi's slightly open mouth and stroked her cheek and called her name so she'd come to enough to eat the bean. After struggling to stay conscious long enough to eat it, the few scrapes and bruises she had were completely gone.

Chichi pulled her face out of the crook of my neck as her eyes fluttered open. She stared up at me and smiled faintly – still awfully dazed.

I smiled, relieved to see her awake – sort of. "Hey, Babe."

She sighed and nuzzled back into me. The bean had worked its magic, but she was still exhausted. Senzu Beans were great for healing and restoring power, but nothing beat a nice long sleep.

I yawned so widely my jaw popped. "Let's go."

Gohan, and I flew toward our home in the mountains, leading the way for Cressa.

A couple hours later, we came in for a landing, touching down lightly in our front yard.

Cressa gazed around her. "It's so peaceful and quiet here!"

"Yeah, it is. Our nearest neighbor is miles away. C'mon inside. Let me show you the house. Gohan, would you get the door please?"

"'K!"

He stepped around me and opened the door and we moved to the side to allow Cressa to go in first, Gohan walked in next and I did after him with Chichi still sound asleep in my arms.

I carried Chichi upstairs and into our bedroom.

"C'mon, Grandma! Let me show you my room!"

Gohan and Cressa chatted in his bedroom down the hall while I placed Chichi on our bed. She stirred and groaned softly as she rolled over but didn't wake up. I kneeled on the floor next to her, content to watch her sleep.

While I tried to free Chichi from Sabi's control, I really thought I was a goner when I felt Chichi charge her energy and then unleash that blast at pointblank range. Those few inches Gohan managed to create between us and my _gi_ tearing were my saving grace.

I was able to Instant Transmit a safe distance away just in the nick of time, deciding to land on the ground.

Until Chichi was forced to round on Gohan.

My heart clenched when her hands darted out and wrapped tightly around his neck but before I could come up with some sort of plan – some way to free her when a direct attack didn't work – Chichi's power sky-rocketed.

I couldn't believe what I saw out there! Her power. The _look_ in her fierce, newly _teal_ eyes once they opened… I was nearly to tears. I had seen her awfully angry, but never _that_ angry. I was very glad that expression wasn't aimed at me.

And Sabi was _terrified._

Chichi had the upper hand until Sabi's mate fired that weapon and I had less than a few seconds to get Chichi out of the way. After one last huge push – one last massive explosion of energy and a powerful surge from an unexpected source – it was over.

We were safe. We won.

Watching her sleep, I marveled at the fact that my wife was a Super Saiyan. To find out she was half-Saiyan was amazing enough, but then she _transformed_! My _wife_ of all people…

That combination of pure rage and _massive_ power was a whole different animal from just being angry and very difficult to tame and I knew from experience. It would be a while before I could help her truly harness and master her power. Not until some time after our baby was born.

I rested a hand on her stomach while she slept, feeling that not so little energy again and grinned to myself. I kissed her forehead, reluctantly pulled my hand back, and left our room to let her rest.

When I stepped into Gohan's room, Cressa was thumbing through one of Gohan's textbooks. It had some kind of scary looking things Gohan called equations printed on its pages – equations that involved numbers, letters and all kinds of weird symbols and even shapes.

"That's my geometry textbook. I just started it last week."

"So, Chichi likes you to study, eh?"

"Yep! But I don't mind it!"

"I get the feeling she doesn't like you to fight all that often."

Gohan nodded vigorously. "Oh, yeah! She _hates_ it when I have to fight. I was sort of surprised she actually asked me to train with her after her powers came back to be honest with you."

That was news to me. My eyebrows shot up. "Wait a minute… _She_ actually asked _you_ to train?"

The whole time, I had assumed Gohan asked Chichi to teach him.

"Yeah! She told me she wanted me to be able to defend myself, and then she asked me to train with her."

"Wow! Well, if it wasn't for you and Cressa, I don't think we'd be here right now. I'm proud of you, Son."

I reached over to ruffle his hair and his eyes lit up.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Why don't we go pick some apples for a snack so we don't wake up Chichi?"

The three of us walked out of the house and flew to the apple tree, Gohan leading the way and – in no time at all – we were there.

"This tree has the _best_ apples, Grandma!"

She giggled. "I can't wait to try them!"

"Watch this!"

Gohan charged up some energy in his right hand, rested his hand on the tree trunk and released it and one by one, the shiny red morsels fell.

He jumped in their air, flying in wild zigzags, moving far faster than the human eye could keep up with. When he landed, he had an armful of apples and he didn't miss a single one.

A glint caught my eye and I looked up. I spoke too soon. He did miss one. Lodged in the hole that went straight through the thick trunk was an apple just like that day right before the Cell Games.

Cressa followed my gaze and flew up to grab that apple and then touched back down in front of me. "That's quite a hole. It goes clean through the trunk! I wonder what put that there."

I chuckled softly at the memory and glanced at Gohan. "I know what happened."

"By your expression, it looks like quite the memory. Can I see?"

"Sure!"

She reached up and put her fingertips of her left hand on my temples and I closed my eyes…

_Chichi and I walk down our favorite path as I push one-year-old Gohan along in his baby carriage._

_As we leave a particularly dense copse of trees, patches of sky grow more visible as the trees thin. A clearing full of beautiful wild flowers comes into view and Chichi gasps delightedly._

" _Oh! Isn't it beautiful, Goku?"_

_I sigh. "Yeah, it's really nice!"_

_Birds chirping in a nearby tree catches our attention and Chichi looks up and then points. I follow her gaze and shield my eyes from the sun_

" _Look! A mommy, a daddy, and a baby just like our family! Can you see them, Gohan?"_

_No response._

_I glance down at him._

_My heart almost stops and then restarts in my throat as we immediately take off after the run-away baby carriage with our son in it!_

_We both scream, "GOHAN!"_

_I pushed myself faster and faster, as fast as I could possibly go, Chichi hot on my heels._

_Gohan's baby carriage came to a deep ravine, hit the edge, soared_ over _it and straight for the trunk of the tree!_

_What have I done? I overshoot it! I completely misjudge the distance and go straight passed the tree while Gohan and his baby carriage fly closer and closer…_

_And then there is a sudden bright flash of light and a sharp, very powerful spike of power and then Gohan goes_ through _the tree trunk as his carriage is destroyed on impact._

_Then, he landed safely in my arms and cooed happily, not even a little bit upset – and completely unscathed._

_The whole thing was over so quickly, I wasn't really sure what just happened. Did I really sense that energy or did I just imagine it?_

_I stared up at the tree and there was my proof: A gaping hole clean through the trunk. I'm not crazy. I really did sense a massive power surge from my_ baby _boy!_

_As I'm processing all of this, Chichi catches up to where we stand near the tree._

_She snatches him out of my arms and frantically looks him up and down. "Oh, Gohan! My baby! Are you alright!?"_

_Gohan coos happily in response._

" _Oh, Goku! You saved him!"_

" _Actually, you see, I… didn't…"_

 _She quirks an eyebrow as she looks down at Gohan. "Your father isn't taking any credit for this." Then she rounds on me. "Since this whole thing_ is _your fault, you_ shouldn't _!"_

_She walks off with him toward the path. "C'mon, Gohan! Let's get home."_

_I automatically raise my hand to try to stop her. "But, Chichi…!"_

_She ignores me and continues toward the path as I chase after her…_

Cressa withdrew her fingertips from my temples and stared at me with her eyebrows in her hair. And then burst out laughing. That threw me for a loop. I glanced at Gohan and he seemed every bit as confused as I was.

After a few minutes, she got control of herself and stared up at the tree. "So the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Gohan inherited Chichi's secret power. I wondered if he would when I saw him that one time I peeked down at him from Other World."

It was my turn for my eyebrows to find my hairline. "Hold on… you mean Gohan gets his hidden power from _Chichi_!?"

She nodded with a proud, "Mmm-hmm."

I _knew_ Gohan didn't get all of his fighting ability and strength from me! Even if Chichi _was_ human, she was still very, very strong in her own right.

"Well… come to think of it… I guess it makes sense."

"Yes. Notice how Chichi's power was unlocked through her protectiveness of both of you. She wouldn't have stood a chance otherwise. She needed to be pushed to reach a new level and she was. The catalyst must have been when she was being controlled. Like in that memory you just showed me, there were tons of little moments I remember of her as a baby and small child doing similar things completely unexpectedly and then behaving as if nothing unusual ever happened."

I rubbed my chin. "When Gohan unleashed his huge power as a small child, it was like a bolt of lightning. Very powerful and deadly but didn't last very long at all. He didn't remember it, either."

"Exactly. When Gohan learned how to harness his power, it made him a force to be reckoned with from what you told me. If Chichi can do the same, she'd probably get stronger than me!"

I grinned like a kid in a candy store. I smelled more training in our future!

An energy growing slightly higher from the direction of home caught my attention. "Chichi's awake!"

I touched two fingers to my forehead as I glanced at Cressa and Gohan. "Here's your warning, Cressa! Gohan? You coming, Bud?"

Cressa giggled as they both ran up to me and Cressa grabbed my elbow as Gohan leaned against my side, his arms too full of apples to be able to grab me.

I took us home, materializing in the living room where Chichi stood. Gohan ran into the kitchen and came out empty handed a minute later.

I put my hands on my wife's shoulders. "Hey, Chi! You feeling alright?"

She nodded happily. "I'm fine! That nap really did the trick."

I released her shoulders and stepped back so Cressa could hug her. Cressa dropped a hand to Chichi's stomach and closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them, her eyes lit up. "This little one is going to be very strong. You both must be proud."

Chichi flashed me a stunning, brilliant smile and butterflies erupted in my stomach and I couldn't help but smile back at her.

Chichi stepped away from Cressa and headed toward the kitchen. "Say, Gohan? Would you call your grandpa and invite him over for dinner in a couple hours?"

Cressa gasped.

"Okay, Mom!"

With that, he grabbed the phone to make his call.

Chichi headed toward the kitchen. "I guess I better get started, then. I don't think I've ever tried to feed this many Saiyans before. This ought to be interesting."

After staring off into space while biting her lip for a little bit, Cressa shook herself and walked after Chichi. "Let me help, Chichi. We can talk more as we cook!"

Together, they disappeared through the kitchen door.

A few seconds later, Chichi poked her head out. "Why don't you boys go fishing and maybe hunting, too? We're going to need _a lot_ of food tonight."

My stomach rumbled. "Mmm! Fish! Oh, Oh! And dinosaur!"

Gohan whooped. "Both sound great!"

Chichi's eyes crinkled. "Then, get going."

We did.

A short while later, Gohan and I returned with both fish and dinosaur steaks. Careful to take off our shoes first, we carried our game inside and into the kitchen so the real cooking could begin. Gohan and I sat down in the living room to let Chichi and her mother cook.

After about twenty minutes, Cressa emerged from where all the delicious smells were emanating from, staring at the front door longingly, tears shining in her eyes. "He's almost here… after all these years…" She took a deep, sort of shaky breath. "I'm suddenly… very nervous."

Chichi came out, too and hugged her mother. "He'll be _thrilled_ to see you, Mother."

I put a hand on Cressa's shoulder. "He's here."

Cressa gasped and darted back into the kitchen, closing the door behind her.

Gohan jumped up and ran to the door, throwing it open to see Ox King with his fist frozen midair, ready to knock. "Hi, Grandpa!"

He laughed and ruffled Gohan's hair. "Hi, Gohan!"

Chichi walked up to him and gave him a hug. "Hi, Papa!"

"Hi, Chichi!"

He waved at me and grinned. "Hi, Goku!"

I waved back, giving him a smile, too. "Hi, Ox King!"

"Did you hear about that huge, unexplainable explosion? It's all over the news. People are saying it looked like what Cell died in. I assume you two–" He nodded at Gohan and me "–had something to do with it?"

I glanced at Chichi and nodded, but frowned slightly. "Yeah, we definitely had something to do with that…"

"Well, tell me about it! What happened?"

I looked at Chichi again and she nodded. _Tell him, Goku. It's over now and he needs to know._

I nodded once at her and faced Ox King again. "You see… that explosion was the end of a battle against two very powerful enemies working together who were stronger even than Cell."

Ox King gasped. "Another huge battle! So soon! And Gohan here defeated Cell just a couple of months ago! Tell me about these enemies!"

I frowned, thinking of the best, most gentle way to explain it, but before I could say anything, Chichi beat me to it. "We will, but first, there's something else you need to know. Remember when Goku said the reason he was brought back was meeting my mother in Other World?"

Ox King nodded, seeming confused.

Chichi bit her lip for a moment and then took a deep breath. "Papa… I know this is going to seem crazy, but you've seen a lot of amazing stuff since I married Goku, including him coming back to life. The truth is, Papa, we have company and she's in the kitchen."

Chichi looked toward the door and on some unspoken signal, Cressa opened the door and stepped into the room, her eyes immediately locking with Ox King's.

My eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. Ox King's face immediately went pale and his mouth fell open as he rocked back on his heels. He looked like he was about to pass out.

Cressa merely stood there just a few steps passed the kitchen, staring at him, looking like she was ready to burst into tears, but stayed seemingly frozen to the spot until Chichi walked up to her and gently nudged her shoulder.

That was all it took.

After a few quick strides, Cressa jumped into Ox King's arms and firmly latched her arms around his neck as his huge arms wrapped around her. Ox King fell to his knees – shaking our house when he landed – and wept and so did Cressa and that was how they stayed, holding each other for dear life.

Chichi's consciousness brushed mine and I felt her form a link with Gohan as well. _I think we should give them some privacy. Let's step into the kitchen. They'll join us when they're ready._

In Chichi's mind, I felt a torrent of emotions ranging from immense joy, sadness, and even anger all so intense it was a little dizzying for me as the three of us quietly slipped into the kitchen.

I wrapped my arms around her, kissed her forehead, and rubbed her back, knowing that was what she needed when she was upset. After a minute, she turned and resumed cooking.

Soon, Cressa and Ox King walked into the kitchen, their eyes red and puffy, but smiling.

Cressa went to help Chichi cook the old-fashioned way while Ox King sat down with Gohan and I. The whole while, Ox King couldn't keep his eyes off Cressa as she cooked. His expression really tugged at my heartstrings, as tender but so very sad as it was.

Soon, the massive amount of food was ready. We ate pretty quietly – the Saiyans in the room were too hungry to carry much of a conversation and the human was somewhat in shock.

After dinner, Cressa and the Ox King went out for a walk by themselves for an hour or so. I sensed them out by the stream, talking. We let them have their privacy. When they came back hand-in-hand, he seemed serious and lost in thought.

I glanced at Cressa and then looked at Chichi. _Think she broke through his block?_

_Seems so. In fact, by the look on his face, I'd say she told him all about what happened today._

Ox King's gaze settled on Chichi. He walked up to her and pulled her in for a big hug. "I'm so proud of you, my daughter."

Chichi's eyes welled up as they held each other for a little while longer.

Then Ox King went back to stand with Cressa, one of his huge hands coming to rest gently on her back.

We talked for hours longer, all the way through the night right there in our sitting room, enjoying the time Cressa had left with us, sharing stories and laughing. Ox King's arm was wrapped around Cressa's shoulders and mine around Chichi's with Gohan next to us.

All too soon, Fortuneteller Baba appeared in our house floating on her crystal ball. "Cressa, your time is up."

She sighed and looked around at each of us gathered around her with tears in her eyes.

Chichi and Cressa held them back and even managed to smile at each other as they hugged tightly, neither of them able to say a word. As strong as Chichi was, I knew she'd break down the moment we were alone.

Next, Cressa hugged me and then a teary-eyed Gohan as she worked her way around the room.

Finally, she stood in front of Ox King. They stared into each other's eyes. I couldn't see Ox King's expression since his back was to me, but Cressa had the most tender expression, her eyes more than a little moist. Ox King swept her up in his arms and they kissed one last time before he reluctantly set her down.

Baba and Cressa stepped outside and we all followed. Baba – floating on her crystal ball – tilted her head toward the sky and floated up. Cressa followed, and then, when they were just about out of sight, Cressa paused for one last look and a wave and then the two of them vanished just as the first golden rays of sunshine lit up the horizon.

Gohan hugged me and there was a slight tremble in his shoulders. I hugged him back and rubbed his head as he walked into the house with a wide yawn.

Chichi hadn't yet pulled her gaze away from the sky. I hugged her from behind, resting my chin on her shoulder and a hand on her stomach.

Her knees buckled, both from exhaustion and grief as she broke down. "Oh, Goku!"

I caught her and scooped her up. She sobbed with her head lolled onto my shoulder, her tears soaking into the front of my _gi._ I carried her inside and up to bed as she continued to cry her eyes out and – suddenly realizing how tired I was – I slid under the sheets next to her. I rubbed her back and pulled her against me as she continued to cry.

She cried herself to sleep and we both slept peacefully for several hours with my arms wrapped around her.

When we all woke up later that afternoon, she seemed… okay. She grinned at me as I made my way into the kitchen, already deeply into the task of cooking a huge breakfast… or I guess an early dinner.

We ate in silence, but stuffed our faces voraciously. Once we were done, I helped her with the dishes while Gohan excused himself to go catch up on his studies.

I put the last bowl she passed me in the cabinet. "So… what do you want to do today?"

"Uh… _Not_ train?"

I surprised myself. "For once, I think that sounds like a great idea!"

She gaped at me and I laughed hard at her expression. Soon, she joined in, the sound and her smiles sending butterflies in my stomach all over again and I wrapped my arms around her as she wrapped her arms around me.

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this take on how and where Chichi gets her strength! 
> 
> Look out for the prequel and sequels! The prequel and first sequel are coming soon!


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